Please help the Woodmans!

Please read the Woodmans' story:

Matthew Woodman explains, "3-4 weeks ago I got a call at work. My sister said I needed to come home because she tested positive for covid. I caught Covid and had some symptoms for about 5 days than it was completely gone and I haven’t had major issues since.

My family was not so lucky. I was the only one who had the vaccine in my household and the virus immediately spread around my house. Around 3 weeks ago, my entire family tested positive including my dad, mom, and all 3 sisters including one that was 8 months pregnant. My mom and oldest sister were lucky to have very minor to no symptoms but my other 2 sisters and my dad were extremely sick quickly. We took all 3 of them into the hospital a couple of days into their illness but never thought they would be admitted. All 3 were admitted and 2 of them have not left the hospital since.

Unfortunately, many of you know that I had to say goodbye to my father yesterday. The hardest part of all of this is knowing that he was almost not even admitted into the hospital because they thought be was healthy enough to go straight home with no issues. That’s Covid though, you take 1 step forward and 2 steps backwards. It seemed like he was doing really well most days but every other day there seemed to be a minor setback and he would need more oxygen to help him breathe. We couldn’t visit him at the hospital because he’s infectious with the disease so he was forced to go through all of this alone. We would try to call or text him daily just to be with him, but even talking on the phone is difficult when you need so much oxygen and you could tell it took a toll on him. Eventually, after many days of 1 step forward and 2 steps back, he was forced to be put on a ventilator. For Covid, the infectious time period before you can visit is around 20 days so you can’t visit and be with them as they’re sedated, you don’t know what’s going on unless you call the nurse and every time the phone rings you just pray it’s not the hospital with bad news. I was lucky enough to be able to visit with my dad over his last few days, pray over him and tell him I loved him but my sisters did not even get to see him and be with him in his final days/moments.

My sister Amy went into the hospital more sick and terrified than anyone else in my family. Her anxiety got the best of her and she quickly got critically ill. None of us could go with her to the hospital, she had a full face mask giving her oxygen so she couldn’t talk on the phone and she was terrified which was making her condition worse quickly. She was forced to be put on a ventilator her 3rd day in her hospital stay and the doctor told us that we needed to prepare for the worst he didn’t think she would recover. We weren’t able to visit with her at her worst so, similar to my dad, we had to rely on daily phone calls to see if she was any better. I am extremely grateful because she has been able to improve daily and is currently taking steps to get off the ventilator completely. Even with her getting better, it will take 2 months of her life to start getting back to normal and I am praying there are no further setbacks.

My other sisters and my mom are doing doing okay and we’ve been going through all of this together. I have had support from so many people and I am so grateful for everyone reaching out.

I also want to say how grateful I am for healthcare workers. The ICU was full in the Covid unit which meant 22 people are going through the exact same thing right now. This has been too much for my family over 3 weeks and they go through this every day. Me and my entire family are beyond grateful for everything you do."

Please help if you can with funeral costs for Mark and medical costs for Amy as she recovers! -Amanda