My name is Kim Michel, and I am raising funds to assist my sister Theresa in the most difficult time of her life. Nine months ago, her husband Larry had a stroke which left him unable to return to work. My brother-in-law Larry came home from the hospital and had therapy at home and at a rehab facility. We found helpful tools/gadgets for him, and he was making progress with his hand.

Unfortunately, in the early hours of March 30th, my brother-in-law got up to get something from the refrigerator, and my sister was on the couch. She asked if he was okay, and he replied, "I'm ok, baby," and proceeded to walk to the back bedroom. Less than a minute after that, she heard a loud crash, so she ran down the hallway and couldn't open the door. She realized he had fallen and was blocking the doorway.

She was able to squeeze through a small space in the door, and she found Larry unconscious. She shook him, hit him on the face to wake him up... he wasn't waking. She dragged him into the middle of the floor and immediately started doing chest compressions while speaking to the 911 operator. The EMTs arrived and worked on him for a while but were having a hard time getting a pulse. She had called me while the EMTs were there working on her, and I felt so helpless and sorry for her. She was absolutely terrified.

Larry was taken to their local hospital, but they transported him to a hospital an hour away that had a Cardiac/ICU. After many CT scans, MRIs, and EEGs, they told my sister this morning that he has had a heart attack that triggered another stroke, which caused a significant amount of brain damage, and will likely never walk again. He is on a feeding tube in his nose, which they have to remove soon so as not to cause an infection. He can't be transported to a rehab facility because he needs an abdominal feeding tube, but they discovered he has a hematoma on the side where they need to put the PEG tube. They can put a J tube in, but this is also risky. She has not been able to work for two weeks, and if she doesn't put in her hours, she will lose her medical insurance. Under these conditions, she cannot return to work just yet, so she is getting her last paycheck this week. They have been struggling financially since Larry can no longer work and is only getting disability.

She is facing so many drastic changes and has a long road ahead of her with decision-making. On top of medical decisions, she is worried sick about paying bills. She has to travel every day back and forth to the hospital, which is 1.5 hours each way to see Larry. She never thought she'd have to face making such difficult decisions about the man she has been with for 40 years. I ask that if you are able to contribute to help my sister out so that she can be at the hospital with Larry, our family will be ever so grateful. Her time with him is critical. Any contribution amounts are so helpful, and she and my family are so grateful to anyone who can contribute to her GoFundMe page.