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Prosthetics and Recovery Assistance for John

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This fund raiser is for a wonderful man named John Overstreet. He is 49 years old and works in the school system as an IT professional. John is an awesome guy who has a warm smile for everyone he meets. If someone needs help John is the first person to offer assistance.  

Last year John was in good health but in the last 6 months he has had a stroke, open heart surgery, and he is now a triple amputee.

However, you  won’t hear John complain. He feels fortunate to have a job he loves, medical insurance, and the support of great family and friends. However, after a lengthy illness and the extreme cost of his portion of the prosthetics, he could use your help. 

His ordeal began in September of 2018 when he suffered a stroke . Then in October he had heart surgery to remove the mass in his heart that had caused the stroke. During this surgery John was given heparin and due to an allergic reaction to this blood thinning medication he has had both feet and his right hand amputated.  

I don’t know what you plan to accomplish in 2019 but here is a chance for you to make a difference. Let’s get John new feet and a new hand! All the money raised will go towards John’s rehabilitation and recovery.  Firstly, money will be used to fund John’s prosthetic feet and hand. Secondly,  any extra money raised will be applied to John’s  additional medical expenses and to making his life more handicapped accessible.  Thanks for much for your support! 

The Journey of John as told by David:

John told me that one of his friends wanted to create a Gofundme account for him. She asked him to provide a description of what happened------And I'm like-----WHATTT?!?!?!?-----I had been journaling about the experience of John's strokes and surgeries to work through my feelings about what happened. I am David Pyfrom, John's husband. I'm not nearly as likeable as John. But I am sincere and loyal. I am a private person. I am sharing my journal because; if somebody is going to do something nice, let them. And it certainly is nice that someone heard about John's story and wants to help.

John is the paragon of grace and hope. If you're reading this, you must know or have heard about how John has dealt with his situation with a supernatural calm. He has no bitterness. He has a universal love that won't be contained.

The short version of John's story:

Last year John had been feeling bad. He was diagnosed with strep throat. John had a stroke on Sep 17. The stroke was caused by a vegetative mass on his mitral heart valve (the valve separating the heart's left upper chamber, from the lower chamber). John had the heart valve removed on October 4 via open-heart surgery. On October 14 John had a reaction to the blood thinner that was administered many days ago during the surgery to replace his heart valve. The reaction caused John to lose both feet and his right hand. The feet amputations are below the knee. With prosthetic he'll walk again.

John's work family has been super supportive. They have donated about 3 months of their sick leave. These sick leave donations have allowed John to be receive his salary during the sickness.

Being a triple amputee, newly so, John doesn't know what his expenses will be. His insurance covers prosthetic limbs at 80/20. So of that pie John must eat a fifth. The prosthetist said that John's prosthetic feet will each cost about $11,000. The prosthetist intimated that a working hand would cost more. John has always said, "I want to walk again. I can live with the loss of my right hand."

John's portion of each prosthetic foot would be around $2200, if the prosthetist's guess is correct. We don't know what a prosthetic hand will cost. We only know that they cost more. We are expecting to pay out $4400 for prosthetic feet. We are going to tap into retirement savings to cover it. --- who needs to retire? :)

Here is John's current situation: $4400 for feet, $5000 for a hand. I'm guessing we'll spend $10,000 on prosthetics. That doesn't include all the visits and lab tests that trickle in. We can loot retirement to cover this.

But John's friends have been so generous-----the donated sick leave, the "get well" cards, the sympathy cards, the gift cards------all give John strength. They give me strength and I am humbled by the generosity of John's extended family. John is not tribal. I know this sounds cheesy but John does consider himself to a be a member of the family of man. John is egalitarian. I have witnessed his random acts of kindness. I've seen him randomly pay a toll for the car behind him. I've seen him genuinely, selflessly give a just-purchased food item to a stranger because that person asks, "Is that good?" John happily responds with, "Here, you try it" while pulling the purchased item out of his cart and giving it to the surprised new-friend. I know all of this outpouring is for John. But I must've done something right to be chosen by such a wonderful human.
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Donations 

  • Kimberly Braisted
    • $100 
    • 5 yrs
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Organizer and beneficiary

Julie Coberly Mcdonald
Organizer
Gonzalez, FL
John Overstreet
Beneficiary
Raised $1,620 from 12 donations

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