Please help Debbie with her medical expenses!

On July 9th 2021 the life of Deborah Brunner changed from that day forward. She was on zoom with some others volunteering her time to encourage her neighbors from the scriptures by way of letters. She left the Zoom meeting to go to the mail box to mail a letter at 10:15 am. She was gone for about 15 minutes, and some of us were wondering what was taking her so long, thinking she was getting a drink or something of that nature. When she turned the camera and microphone back on, we were shocked to see a bloodied woman from her hair down with most of her clothes torn off of her. Exhausted and weak she said “Help me, Help me; I have been attacked by 2 Rottweilers, please call 911!” While returning from the mailbox she was viciously attacked by 2 adult male Rottweilers. The attack was brutal leaving a horrific blood trail that span a distance of over 180 feet from the mailbox to her porch. The dogs had repeatedly knocked her down and cruelly mauled her as she desperately tried to get back inside her home. The dogs absolutely tore her to shreds. The dogs had bitten and torn flesh from her arms and legs leaving large areas of open wounds, deep punctures and pockets of missing flesh. Some pockets were so deep they exposed bones and tendons. She was very close to bleeding to death.

One of her friends who was on Zoom with her at the time called 911, and the operator had the nerve to ask her to hold! She said, “Absolutely not, this is a matter of life or death!” Another friend immediately called her husband who was at work at the time to alert them of the horror that had just happened. There were 6 others who quickly rushed to her home fearful of what they would find. Her wounds were so severe that the Ambulance called for a helicopter to have her Air cared to UC hospital. It took 8 of them in the ambulance to stabilize her for the helicopter ride, and 45 minutes to get the bleeding under control. When she arrived at UC she was immediately taken into emergency surgery. From there she spent days in the ICU unit fighting for her life. She would later receive 2 more surgeries when she became more stable. This seemingly delicate beautiful woman has proved to be one of the strongest people on the planet. She is currently at the Drake center in the acute care unit with many more months of recovery still ahead. For many days she could not even feed herself.

Changing of her bandages has proved to be a very painful experiences for her, even with high strength pain killers. Her bandages are changed daily and it’s as if she is being attacked all over again from the pain of pulling them from her open wounds. But she has been enduring it all for the sake of her family and friends who love her dearly. She knows she has to try hard to get better. She has one of the most devoted husbands of over 32 years, who is her rock throughout all of this. Steve has been at her side daily. He has been able to do so because of the loving consideration from his employer. They have worked with him letting him be off work to be with Debbie, which has been a necessity for Debbie throughout this whole ordeal. She also has her loving Daughter and Son in law who are able to be by her side as much as they can, giving Debbie her support team that she desperately needs.

She will be undergoing plastic surgery to get skin grafts on some of the horrific wounds, but her body will never be the same. Her life will never go back to what it was prior to July 9th. She will now have to see the many vivid scars that have disfigured her body every time she looks into the mirror. These will always remind her of the horrific tragedy she went through that day due to no fault of her own. In addition to the many physical scares are the emotional ones that no surgeon can cover. She is terribly traumatized emotionally and is already receiving treatment from mental health professionals. There have been days where she struggles to even form a sentence without crying. She is afraid she will no longer be able to live in the house she and Steve worked so hard to call their home because of the horrible event that took place in the seeming safety of her own front yard.

As for the many bills, they have begun to arrive, giving her husband Steve new worries. When Debbie asks Steve about what they will do about them he tells her not to worry about it, just focus on getting better. Steve feels being with her now to give her the emotional and spiritual support she desperately needs is of greatest importance. She is his High school sweetheart and he feels so helpless when he has to watch her endure the pain associated with her recovery and physical therapy. He knows he will of course have to go back to work at some point. But even if he never missed a day of work, he would be no match for the many bills that his insurance will not cover. So can we all help them out by giving what we can to relieve some of the stress of the financial burden they are facing? The owner of the dogs has not come forward; leaving them completely responsible for something that should never have happened, had the owner acted more responsibly. Debbie and Steve have always kept their lives very simple not seeking to gain a lot of material goods so they can focus on spiritual things. We are confident that they will receive exactly what they need, because they have always relied upon God for their help and comfort. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your attention and support.