Hi, my name is Walter Lopez and I am making this GoFundMe because my mother, Madel Lopez, suffered a horrific, life changing brain injury that has left her with severe brain damage and fighting for her life.

On Saturday, July 2nd, my mother fell from the top of the stairs outside of our house. We immediately called 911 and they preformed emergency brain surgery to save her life. She has had at least 2 brain surgeries and countless other procedures to get her to stable condition and maintain her that way. However this last Thursday, July 14th, during a breathing tube change, my mother suffered a flatline event and had to undergo life saving CPR to be saved after roughly 5 minutes of not breathing. She is once again currently stable but is still unconscious as she has been the entire time she has been hospitalized, and is fighting for her life. We don’t take a single day that my mom is alive for granted—we never did before and we won’t start now.

My family has always been small, but as of now it is just my father and I along with our medium sized dog, and because my mother was the breadwinner, we find ourselves in dire circumstances. We had no savings, but my mom had planned to build her credit high enough to one day get a loan and start a business. However after her tragic fall, her dream is no longer possible and my father and I have no way to keep up with the rent and bills we are facing, as well as any future medical bills. We are devastated and we will be starting therapy to learn to better cope with this massive heartbreak and depression we are feeling.

My mother worked in Child Care for over 30 years, and throughout her career she has become an additional grandmother to many children as well as a loving member of various families that she worked with. Anyone who knows my mother will gladly tell you just how kind she is and how loving and warm her personality is. My mom was always the first person to offer help and kind words when someone was sad, and she treated every single child that she cared for as if they were her own—she has been an absolute asset and a valuable figure in every single household she was worked with. Anyone who had the privilege of meeting my mom will vouch for her as a person. Even as I write this, my heart breaks because it pains me that someone who is so wholeheartedly GOOD and kind had to suffer such a horrendous fall and injury.

The doctors have told us that while her condition may be stable most days, we should keep our expectations for recovery very low, and that there is very little chance that my mom may ever even open her eyes again, but my mother had shared with me in the past that she would want the chance to fight if she was ever in the position and I plan to honor her wishes by giving her that chance and praying for a miracle. I hope that those who have experienced my mother’s kindness as well as those who have benefited from my mother being an extended part of their family can find a way to help. Thank you, from the Lopez family.