Mayse Memorial

About a week ago, right after New Year’s, Donnie Mayse started to feel sick with typical flu symptoms – a cough, a runny nose – the same symptoms we all experience, especially his time of year. Although it seemed like his illness was stabilizing, and even seemed like it would get better, he took a rapid turn for the worse. On Sunday morning, shortly after waking up, he collapsed and stopped breathing. His family rushed him to the hospital, where they immediately began treating him. Despite everyone’s best efforts, Donnie suddenly passed away on Sunday evening. He was only 31 years old. 


Don was heartbroken over the sudden loss of his only son. His normal cough rapidly got worse over Sunday night. His family took him to two separate doctors hoping they could help him get better. Shortly after returning from the doctor and starting Don on medication, he suddenly started turning blue. His family rushed him to the hospital, where he was treated immediately. Again, despite everyone’s best efforts, Don did not make it through the night. He passed away in the hospital the same way his son had the night before.

Within 48 hours, the Mayse family suddenly lost a son/brother/uncle, and husband/father/grandfather. 


Don was the family’s main source of income. Unfortunately, he did not have life insurance. 

Donnie also did not have life insurance. 


Rattled by the experience, Donnie and Don’s remaining family spent the following Tuesday between various doctors and emergency rooms to have their lungs checked, and to get any needed medication. By some miracle this small family (including two small girls) is mostly healthy, although heartbroken for their loss.

Within this short period of time, the burden of the expenses of two unexpected deaths, as well as running a small household (including mortgage payments) has unexpectedly fallen on Sharon (mother/wife) and Kristin (daughter/sister). Sharon has medical conditions that have made it so that she cannot work outside the home, so she spends her time helping tend Kristin’s two small girls, aged 4 and 7, while Kristin works full-time. 

 

Now, before I continue, a few things you should know about Kristin: 
-       she is one of the hardest workers I know – she gets up extra early so she can be in to work early, so she can leave early, so she can spend the evenings with her daughters. 
-       she is the type of person that would help anyone, and is the type of person to find the bright side in any situation (even this one). 
-       she would not ask for help unless she really needed it. 

Likewise, Kristin's mother, Sharon has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I have ever met. She loves her children and her family better than any momma-bear I’ve ever seen. Also, Sharon would not ask for help unless she really needed it. 

With the sudden events of this past week, this sweet family now has double expenses for services and cremations. It is their desire to take the cremains back Sharon’s home-state of Ohio, where they can lay their husband/son/father/brother to rest with other family. Although they have medical insurance, they also have hospital and doctor bills. Lastly, the loss of Don’s income has put a major strain on the household. 
 
This poor family has already seen a lot of difficulty in the past few days. If you can find anything extra to share with this sweet family so they can grieve their losses without worrying about bills (and also help them feel some extra love during a really hard time), that would be amazing. And if you don’t have anything extra to share with them monetarily, please just share this request for help so others can share if they can. Maybe it’s more than one of us can do alone, but together we can make a difference and help the Mayse family feel some much-needed love in a really hard time… and trust me, if the situation were ever reversed (which we hope it never is), Sharon and Kristin would be happy to return your kindness. 

 Thank you so much for your love and support.