My name is Nick Irmiter. I am married to the most wonderful, giving, and caring woman in my life. She helped raise our two girls, Summer and Lina. She taught future EMTs at Allan Hancock College in the Santa Maria, CA, and Lompoc, CA, area for years. From there, she continued her own education, becoming an EMT herself for American Medical Response, and then studying for and becoming a Paramedic for them with fifteen years of service in Northern Santa Barbara County. She retired about 12 years ago from the job she loved and had dedicated herself to.

Recently, she had a terrible and debilitating experience. She fell down a flight of stairs in our home and fractured her c-spine in five or six places, doing damage to her spinal cord. She spent 2 1/2 weeks at Marian Medical Center for medical treatment, after which she was transported to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, CA, where she is receiving intense therapy for her c-spine injuries. Presently, she has no use of her arms and legs. The costs of her care when she returns will be expensive.

At the time of her fall down the stairs, I heard the fall, ran, and saw her on the landing below the stairs. In my rush down the stairs to her, I shredded my Achilles tendon and will now need surgery and therapy for my injury so that I can be at home and help assist in her care. Any financial assistance would be gratefully appreciated, particularly in these difficult times which we are all experiencing throughout the country.

Thank you for any amount you can donate. Peace to all.