<div><strong>Supporting Ben Blood’s Road to Recovery</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>On Saturday, October 4th, my younger brother, <strong>Ben Blood</strong>, fell off his skateboard and suffered a severe brain injury. Ben is a 5th-grade teacher at Palmer Lake Elementary School and a local farrier with a heart for people and the outdoors. To know Ben is to love him. In our family, we say “everyone loves Ben, he’s the best of us.”
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Immediately after his fall, Ben was rushed to the hospital and underwent life-saving surgery after doctors discovered expanding bleeds in three areas of his brain.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We are beyond grateful that Ben is alive. By God’s grace, the decisive actions of his girlfriend and friends with him, and the incredible medical team caring for him, he is fighting every day. He is currently in the ICU under close care. Although he is not apparently conscious yet, there are glimpses that have signaled he can recover. The days are long and uncertain, and while we don’t yet know when he will show a capacity to respond, we’re holding onto faith and believing for his complete recovery.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Still, his road there will be a long one.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Recovery from a traumatic brain injury can take months — even years — and much of that journey is unknown. Our understanding of his particular brain damage is limited, though we’ve been informed that his language centers and faculties around executive function could be significantly impaired when he “comes to”. Our family has been told to take things one day at a time, to be patient, and to trust Ben’s unique recovery process.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>In the meantime, my dad, Rafe H. Blood Jr., will need to begin focusing on Ben’s recovery care full-time, especially once he is released, as it will be some time before he’s capable to live independently.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>As you can imagine, a financial burden is emerging. Between the unknown medical costs, Ben’s and my Dad’s living expenses, and the costs of ongoing therapies, the overwhelm is mounting.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Perhaps the only thing more overwhelming has been the deluge of prayers, love, support, and messages of encouragement that have surrounded this experience since mere minutes after his accident and haven’t let up. Our community (Ben’s community!) never ceases to amaze. People all over the world are praying for Ben! Everyone loves Ben!
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We’ve especially heard the question, “how can we help?” This GoFundMe is our attempt at a tangible answer.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We’ve created it to help ease the distraction of the financial burden so Ben and our family can focus entirely on his healing. <strong>Every dollar raised will go directly toward medical expenses, therapy care, food, rent, gas, and the necessities that will come with his long-term recovery.</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>If you know Ben, he’s shown up for you. I don’t have adequate language to capture the quality of his love for the people in his orbit or the expanse of its reach. If you don’t know him, just you wait.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Please understand we have no expectation of your financial donation. Your prayer, love, and outreach mean the world, already. Sharing this page with others is also really helpful.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>From the bottom of our hearts — thank you for standing with us, for believing in Ben, and for being part of his story of hope and healing.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>With love and gratitude,
</div>
<div>Rafe P. Blood &amp; Family
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/95447913_1760027857621208_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>

Chandler Norfleet

Karen Jakubiec

Anonymous

Gene Kalesti

Aaron Miller

Ilia SB

Nancy C.

Sara Zillinger

Henry Wisshack

Liz Premo

Evan Boucher

Hoai Mi Nguyen

Ethan Abello

Michelle Denney

Matthew Rooms

Support Ben's Recovery From Traumatic Brain Injury

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

currencyCode

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

Influencer - Prod

US fundraisers and US users

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Enter your donation forSupport Ben's Recovery From Traumatic Brain Injury