#KathysCrusaders: A Love Army For Kathy Kirkbride
“Little by little, a little becomes a lot.”
- Tanzanian Proverb
Kathy’s Story
Five years ago, Kathy took a chance and applied to become a paraprofessional. At the time, she had no idea what it entailed, she just knew from past experience that she wanted to make a difference in children’s lives. Little by little, Kathy learned tricks and techniques to add to her toolbox and she became a seasoned and highly dedicated paraprofessional. Kathy used this experience to continue growing her career and recently accepted a new position as a Latchkey Site Director.
On Tuesday, January 26th, Kathy’s world quickly changed. While working at latchkey, Kathy suddenly lost feeling and control of her arms and legs. She was rushed to the ER where she underwent countless tests. Kathy was told by doctors that there are lesions on her spinal cord caused by influenza. She was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis. While there is no cure for Transverse Myelitis, doctors are treating Kathy’s symptoms with steroids and muscle relaxers. Kathy was unable to move anything below her neck, but after a few days with her first round of steroids, she’s already able to lift her right arm up and sit up for brief periods of time with support. Little by little, Kathy’s improvements will hopefully become a LOT of progress that will lead to a full recovery!
Where YOU come in...
In the meantime, Kathy will be unable to work or support herself. Doctors anticipate rehab could take up to 5 months and will likely happen out state. Kathy needs to be able to put her full focus on healing and growing stronger, so this fundraiser is aiming to pay for her health insurance deductible and out-of-pocket costs. Any additional funds will go towards lost wages not covered by leave.
If you would like to help ease Kathy’s financial burden, any donations (even $1) would be greatly appreciated! You can also share her story and fundraiser to help spread the word! Little by little, YOUR donations will add up to be a HUGE relief for Kathy!
We hope you will consider become a #KathysCrusaders today! ❤️
UPDATE ON 2-19-21:
We are so amazed by and thankful for everyone’s support. ❤️ Our original $9,000 goal to cover Kathy’s insurance deductible and out-of-pocket expenses was met in just 12 days! After having learned more about Kathy’s condition, it is apparent that her road to recovery is going to be long and arduous. She has already made some great progress and has been able to use some adapted tools to begin relearning how to feed herself and sit/stand with support for brief amounts of time. The hospital team is working to get her placed in an out-of-state rehab facility that specializes in spinal cord injuries, but the approval and admissions process are lengthy. It is anticipated that Kathy will be at Wesley hospital through at least March 1st and then possibly another 5 weeks while she waits for admission. She may have to be placed temporarily in a local rehab facility while she awaits transfer out of state. Kathy will be unable to work through at least the end of the school year, so she is going to need financial support to cover her monthly bills through this difficult time. She anticipates her monthly bills to be around $705, so we have calculated and are raising our GoFundMe goal to $12,525 cover the next 5 months of her expenses.
Little by little, YOUR donations added up to meet and SURPASS Kathy’s first goal! We are hopeful we can rally again to meet her next goal! If you would like to help ease Kathy’s financial burden, any donations (even $1) would be greatly appreciated! You can also share her story and fundraiser to help spread the word! Little by little, WE can get Kathy the support she needs to be able to focus on making a full recovery!