Nikki is one of the most helpful and hardworking people I know.

 

For example, not long after we became roommates back in 2017, my car key broke in half, leaving me without transportation until I found the half that went in the car. Not only did Nikki drop everything to help me search the house from top to bottom, but she also ferried me all over town until we found it. When my bike was stolen from our yard, Nikki was the one investigating, driving up and down every street looking for it. It seems that every time I ask her afternoon or weekend plans, she answers, “I promised I would help [someone] with [something].”

 

Nikki is a mechanic, and often says that she became one to help people. Her wish is to save people money and headaches, and help them understand their vehicles so they’ll be empowered to deal with any less honest mechanics they might meet. She especially cares about doing this for women, since, like many women, she has had the experience of being talked down to, upsold, or intimidated in auto shops. And she has succeeded at her mission with the highest-flying colors: just ask the dozens upon dozens of loyal customers who followed her from her previous shop to her current one, and who continue to ask for her by name. Or ask her previous employer, a massive national auto service chain, which rated her internally as the #1 most efficient mechanic in the country. The country!! This woman is amazing. I’m biased, but also, it’s objectively true.

 

And yet, despite the fact that Nikki would help anyone at any moment, she—like many of us—doesn’t like asking for help.

 

So I will gladly do it for her!

 

Here it is:

 

To become the most efficient mechanic in the country, you have to give it your all, physically as well as mentally. Somewhere in the course of giving it her all, Nikki started having severe shoulder pain. She couldn’t raise her left arm above shoulder level without an audible crack, complete with pain radiating through the whole arm. The MRI came back: a torn bicep.

 

The only solution, the doctors told her, is surgery. Without surgery, the injury will just keep getting worse. There is no amount of rest or physical therapy that can heal it. The good news is that the surgery will be 100% covered by insurance. The bad news: recovery can take anywhere from three months to an entire year. The doctors won’t have a good estimate until they see the injury, in surgery. And during that recovery period, however long it may be, Nikki won’t be able to work.

 

As a lead technician, Nikki is paid by the job. She doesn’t get paid unless she works on cars.

 

It took days of struggling just to get the smallest amount of help from Workers’ Compensation. What they offered won’t be enough to cover even basic needs for a few months’ recovery, not to mention the worst-case scenario. Plus, while the surgery itself, which is scheduled for November 29th, will be covered by insurance, Nikki’s insurance ends the very next day. Her employer, a small local business, does not provide benefits, and marketplace insurance would cost more for her than paying out of pocket. This means she will bear the financially responsibility for any physical therapist visits or any other necessary follow-up visits.

 

To top it off, this surgery is arriving on the heels of a separate surgery that Nikki had back in March. That one put her out of work for three months; she was just beginning to rebuild savings when she got hit with this curveball.

 

This is where you come in, if you’re willing and able. Can you help Nikki out during her recovery by making a donation?

 

Hoping for a recovery period of four months, which is the best estimate the doctor could give as of right now, Nikki calculated that a goal of $5,000 will be enough for the essentials: rent, bills, and groceries. All donations will go toward these.

 

If you have $100 to give, that’s our electric bill for the month, and that is SO amazing. If you have $5 to give, that’s a meal, and that is amazing too. We truly appreciate any contribution, of any size. If you’re not able to donate financially, we understand that too—it’s hard out here, clearly! Instead, would you be able to share this GoFundMe with friends, family, coworkers?

 

There is extensive research to suggest that elevated stress is bad for your health, and tight finances are a major source of stress. So my well-supported hypothesis is that Nikki’s recovery will actually be shorter if she doesn’t have to worry about how she’s going to pay bills! Please donate, if you can, to get my dear roommate back to being her healthy, stress-free, happy-go-lucky self.

 

Some years, all the bad (or just expensive) things seem to happen at once, and this just happened to be one of those years for Nikki. She thinks it might be because last year she broke a mirror. I think it might just be unfortunate coincidence. Whatever the reason, I thank you for being there through it. Thank you, thank you, thank you.