My Dad, Brent Field

Hi, my name is Bailey and my Dad is Brent Field. I am writing this to ask for funds for my Dad's medical bills, prescriptions, and maybe adding ramps to our house. My brother, his wife, their two daughters, my sister, and I all live with my Mom and Dad in Morgantown, WV. Dad was a 9-1-1 Operator for almost fifteen years and was really good at his job. He helped many people in states like West Virginia, New Mexico, and Oregon, even saving a little baby once that was just a few days old. He received an International Life Savers Award for it and was in newspapers, a magazine, and on TV for that. He has also helped deliver babies, give CPR instructions, and before cell phones had GPS, he used the signal towers it passed to help him find a woman trapped in a car trunk who had been kidnapped by her boyfriend.

But my Dad got sick 18 years ago. He caught a virus that attacked his heart and gave him cardiomyopathy. He only had 10% of his heart function left so doctors had a pacemaker installed in his chest and he was put on many medicines. Those medicines helped him get to 20% so he could get an operation to help him lose weight to take strain off his heart. Because of that, he lost over 200 pounds and his heart got strong enough that he was able to go back to college. While he was in college, he was even strong enough that when his pacemaker's battery died, they could take it out and not have to put another one in, but during the operation, he got MRSA in the pocket where his pacemaker had been. He had to have an IV line put in his chest and have antibiotics through it. When he walked across the stage to get his college degree, he had a little plastic ball of antibiotics running into that IV under his robe.

After he got his degree, he said that he was always upset that when people called 9-1-1, he often had to advise people to speak to a lawyer. But the people who called often didn't have the money. So, he decided to go to law school to become an attorney and help those people who couldn't afford one. He got accepted at West Virginia University Law School and went there to study public interest law. He worked with the student ACLU group and was an official witness for an LGBTQ+ parade where there was a rumor that people were going to attend to start fights. But his health kept getting bad. First, the stress caused him to get ulcers in his stomach to the point where he only weighed around 140 pounds. He had to quit because he wasn't strong enough to carry his law books anymore. He had more surgeries where he had a tube put in his stomach and he had to be fed through that tube 14 hours a day. When he got strong enough, he went back. But he got COVID. And then he had a stroke that affected his left side and his memory. And he had to quit for good.

He eventually accepted that he should just be a stay-at-home Grandpa, but he was always looking at job offers, wanting to go back to helping people and earning money for the family. He even had us volunteer as a family at our local food bank, but his health just kept him from doing more. He has cerebrovascular disease now. He just calls it a brain cloud. But it's making things even harder, and now, he's getting worse. He gets bad cluster migraines, he's having difficulty reading, his balance is starting to go bad on him, but I think the worst thing is he can't watch movies on a big screen now.

Dad has always loved movies more than anything. He worked in movie theaters and video stores, even at Blockbuster. He loved taking us to the movies, especially drive ins. Our Mom even got him a monthly pass to go see all the movies he wanted. But last week, he went to see one and it became too much. He said there was too much noise, there was too much on the screen, the light hurts his eyes, and he had to leave. He almost fell leaving because his balance got bad. He spent the night in the Emergency Room. I have never seen my Dad so sad thinking he can never watch a movie on a big screen again.

Dad takes about 20 different medications every day now, and after years and years of staying alive, the medical bills are starting to get ahead of them. Even with insurance and Social Security, every time he's in the ER, it costs $150, and he has been in the ER a LOT lately. His balance is starting to have problems and even though he can walk with a cane, he might soon have to be in a wheelchair and we live in a house that has stairs everywhere to get in, so if we have any funds left over, we are going to try and make it more accessible for him. Our family was always taught to love others like we would love ourselves and my Dad has even brought home homeless people to stay with us so we could help them. But my Mom and especially my Dad are going to need help now and I'm hoping that others feel the same way that we were taught, and they can help my folks. If you have extra, please think of donating for my Dad.

Thank you,

Bailey Field