Rev. Sam E. Malave, an unintended victim of hurricane Milton

Hi my name is Pastor Mildred,

Bishop Samuel Malave was the younger brother of my husband Pastor Edwin, what was suppose to be the best time of their lives took a different turn that resulted in the untimely passing of Bishop Samuel. Here are the events that preceded his death.

At the end of February 2024 Bishop Samuel suffered a heart attack and was rushed into open heart surgery, originally the surgery was a success but soon he began to experience complications with water in his lungs and irregular heartbeat. With more hospitalization and treatment he was able to recover but needed rest and time to fully return to normal.

At the end of August 2024 more bad news happened to the Malave's, Samuel's wife also needed open heart surgery, the surgery was performed in early September and now the two of them were trying to recover together.

In early October, Gov DeSantis of Florida requested for everyone in the path of hurricane Milton to evacuate and escape from the death and destruction of a potential cat 5 hurricane. Thinking of his wife and the possibility of death Bishop Samuel call Pastor Edwin who lives in Alabama and decided to make the 9 hour trip that actually took 12 hours because of the evacuation.

On Tuesday October 8th 2024 Bishop Samuel and Myrna arrived at his brother's home about 1pm. He was happy and jolly but very tire. After dinner he went to sleep and got up early Wednesday and had breakfast with the family. During that time he expressed that he still felt sleepy and he needed to rest, about 12noon he went back to bed to rest for a couple of hours.

At 1:30pm Bishop Samuel tried to get up from bed but couldn't, he couldn't move the left side of his body, he couldn't talk, he couldn't smile. Pastor Edwin call 911. Bishop Samuel was taken by helicopter from north Alabama to Chattanooga TN Erlanger Hospital Neuroscience Trauma ICU where he remained until October 14, 2024 8:30pm when he died as a result of a massive stroke.

Medical professionals agree that there are undeniable links between heart disease, stroke and stress. Stress can cause the heart to work harder, increase blood pressure, and increase sugar and fat levels in the blood. These things in turn, can increase the risk of clots forming and traveling to the heart or brain, causing a heart attack or stroke.

The stress caused by the events in the last hours preceding the stroke in combination with his heart disease became the perfect combination for the massive stroke that took his life. Bishop Samuel was an unintended victim of hurricane Milton.

Important note: Due to the heart attack Bishop Samuel had to quit his job and retire, his life insurance that he had through his employment was immediately suspended and due to his condition he wasn't able to purchase new life insurance as he had wished, which made him cry because he didn't know what would happen to his wife in the event of his death.

So many of you that knew or heard of this tragic event and have expressed your desire to help in some form or way.

You can help by giving to this fund to cover the transportation of his remains from Tennessee to Haines City Florida, the funeral expenses and a number of other unexpected expenses as well as helping his widow Myrna his wife of 44 years begin a new chapter in her life.

Thank you,

Pastor Mildred Malave