Hi, I’m Keith Williamson and I’m fundraising to assist my brother Duane Williamson. Duane is my hero! He truly is the epitome of a good man!! Duane married his bride Chris the same month that we graduated high school in 1983 and they remain married 41 years later. He adopted and raised her three children as his own. They had another daughter and took in my sister’s son. Duane has always been a gentle and humble man. Duane would do anything to help his fellow man including giving the shirt off of his back.

He is a humble man and has worked a variety of jobs including cleaning a butcher shop, working in a donut store, convience store, fruit stand and a silicon chip plant. Most recently he has been working finishing parts for aircraft.

In January 2024 while on his way to work during a storm he was involved in an auto accident. As a result of the accident, he sustained a back injury that he initially thought just flared his sciatica. However, his back progressively worsened and he subsequently lost function of his lower extremities and was no longer able to walk. While seeing a medical provider at Pintler Orthopedics, an MRI was performed on his lumbar spine. This MRI did not explain his current symptoms so he had further emergent MRIs of his Thoracic and Cervical regions. He was found to have multi level thoracic disc disease causing compression of his spinal cord and diminished cerebral spinal fluid flow. He was sent to Missoula for emergency surgery. He spent a week in the hospital and two more weeks in a rehab facility. He continues to do physical therapy daily but still has great difficulty with standing and walking. He must continue to use orthopedic braces and has to use a walker to ambulate. He continues to battle pain, weakness and loss of sensation in his lower extremities. The neurological deficits which led to further complications which have caused great difficulty for my brother.

Duane has not been able to work for several weeks and is currently receiving short term disability which is a pittance of his normal income. It is not known at this time when or IF he will be able to return to work. In the meantime his bills keep adding up. We have all tried to pitch in what we can to help them out but this is a situation that will require more than our immediate family can cover. Duane would give you the shirt off of his back in a blink of an eye but would NEVER ask for anything. It is with this in mind that I humbly ask for your help.