Sammaiah Needs Your Help Now
Donation protected
Who is Sammaiah?
Sammaiah Elabotaram is a hardworking gentleman who is beloved by family, friends and work colleagues alike. He is originally from the rural village of Kothapalli, India (near Peddapalli, Karimnagar, Telangana). He grew up poor and struggled a lot to earn his college degree. The youngest of five children, Sammaiah also helps his parents financially.
Four months ago, he came to the Atlanta, Georgia area and was planning to bring his wife, Soujanya, and their 1 year old daughter over in early 2018. He is the sole breadwinner of his family and wanted to make sure he was comfortably settled before bringing them.
Sammaiah & Soujanya's wedding, 2013
November 7: Tragedy Struck
Sammaiah was walking home from work on the evening of November 7, 2017 when tragedy struck: He was nearly killed by a car as he was walking across the street; the driver had no license. Nearly a dozen police officers arrived on the scene, and Sammaiah was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital where he received immediate emergency brain surgery that lasted several hours and that saved his life. He came into the hospital with intra-cranial hemorrhaging
.
As of this writing, Sammaiah is still comatose and in the ICU at Grady as doctors figure out what the next steps will be.
In Soujanya's own words (translated from Telugu):
"A day before the accident, I talked to my husband (Sammaiah) as we do daily; he was in the USA and I was in India with our daughter. We discussed our plans about moving our family to the USA perhaps as soon as February. Sammaiah wanted to come back to India to see his parents and then to bring us from India to our new home in the USA. I could not talk to my husband in the evening as we regularly do on November 7. I called my mother-in-law that day to see if she heard from him as he regularly calls both of us. Later that night, we got the dreadful call from colleagues. I had to fly from India immediately, leaving our toddler with my parents, to find out what happened to Sammaiah. Our dreams of setting up a new home and new life were shattered. I have to stay away from my toddler to take care of my husband as his recovery will take several months. I am new to the USA and don't know how things work. With the assistance of his friends, I am making this humble plea for help."
He has no medical insurance & needs your help
We are trying to spread the word about what happened to our dear friend because we know that his medical costs will be extreme, and that this will be an immense hardship on his family. Sammaiah does not have any medical insurance. We do not know when, or even if, he will ever be able to return to work and support his family.
Soujanya herself is also from a small village in rural India and speaks very limited English. This tragedy has been very difficult on her as she finds herself now in the United States, trying to cope with this crazy situation.
Immediate help is needed to pay for continued post trauma medical care, nursing, and rehabilitation.
Sharing is caring
Even if you are not able to donate, please share this link to Sammaiah's story so we are able to get him the help he so desperately needs.
If you are able to make a donation to help with Sammaiah’s continually growing medical expenses, please donate now. We, the friends and family of Sammaiah, are grateful for any contributions. Thank you very much!
Other information:
Who is the organizer of this campaign?
My name is Marisa Meisters, and I’m one of a team of easily 20 friends who are working behind the scenes to help Sammaiah and his family. Each of us is taking on responsibilities to help, according to our individual strengths. I’ve always been a strong writer, so I’ve taken responsibility for setting up and maintaining this GoFundMe account. I’m also being helped greatly by a lot of friends who are providing me with background information, translations where needed, and photographs. I run a small business. I’m a wife and mother as well.
When something tragic happens to a friend, you feel that there’s never enough you can do to help. Other friends are connecting with professionals to help Sammaiah's wife navigate through options and ideas, yet others are translating for her between Telugu and English, etc. We’re doing whatever we can to work as a team. I’m only a small part of the effort, both in the USA and in Sammaiah's home country of India.
Where is Marisa from?
I live in Milton, Georgia. It’s about a 45 minute drive from downtown Atlanta (assuming good traffic conditions).
My relationship to Sammaiah:
My husband has worked with Sammaiah for the past 10 years on various office projects. Once in a while, Sammaiah has come to the USA to work on some projects. I’ve known him for a similarly long amount of time. He’s one of the genuinely nicest people I’ve ever met.
How will the funds collected be used?
I opened a separate bank account specifically to collect all funds and donations for Sammaiah so that it does not get commingled with any personal funds. I promise to withdraw money on behalf of his family and give it directly to his family, or send it directly to pay for medial needs, rehab, and/or the family's financial support - whatever the family prefers.
Sammaiah Elabotaram is a hardworking gentleman who is beloved by family, friends and work colleagues alike. He is originally from the rural village of Kothapalli, India (near Peddapalli, Karimnagar, Telangana). He grew up poor and struggled a lot to earn his college degree. The youngest of five children, Sammaiah also helps his parents financially.
Four months ago, he came to the Atlanta, Georgia area and was planning to bring his wife, Soujanya, and their 1 year old daughter over in early 2018. He is the sole breadwinner of his family and wanted to make sure he was comfortably settled before bringing them.
Sammaiah & Soujanya's wedding, 2013November 7: Tragedy Struck
Sammaiah was walking home from work on the evening of November 7, 2017 when tragedy struck: He was nearly killed by a car as he was walking across the street; the driver had no license. Nearly a dozen police officers arrived on the scene, and Sammaiah was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital where he received immediate emergency brain surgery that lasted several hours and that saved his life. He came into the hospital with intra-cranial hemorrhaging
.
As of this writing, Sammaiah is still comatose and in the ICU at Grady as doctors figure out what the next steps will be.
In Soujanya's own words (translated from Telugu):
"A day before the accident, I talked to my husband (Sammaiah) as we do daily; he was in the USA and I was in India with our daughter. We discussed our plans about moving our family to the USA perhaps as soon as February. Sammaiah wanted to come back to India to see his parents and then to bring us from India to our new home in the USA. I could not talk to my husband in the evening as we regularly do on November 7. I called my mother-in-law that day to see if she heard from him as he regularly calls both of us. Later that night, we got the dreadful call from colleagues. I had to fly from India immediately, leaving our toddler with my parents, to find out what happened to Sammaiah. Our dreams of setting up a new home and new life were shattered. I have to stay away from my toddler to take care of my husband as his recovery will take several months. I am new to the USA and don't know how things work. With the assistance of his friends, I am making this humble plea for help."
He has no medical insurance & needs your help
We are trying to spread the word about what happened to our dear friend because we know that his medical costs will be extreme, and that this will be an immense hardship on his family. Sammaiah does not have any medical insurance. We do not know when, or even if, he will ever be able to return to work and support his family.
Soujanya herself is also from a small village in rural India and speaks very limited English. This tragedy has been very difficult on her as she finds herself now in the United States, trying to cope with this crazy situation.
Immediate help is needed to pay for continued post trauma medical care, nursing, and rehabilitation.
Sharing is caring
Even if you are not able to donate, please share this link to Sammaiah's story so we are able to get him the help he so desperately needs.
If you are able to make a donation to help with Sammaiah’s continually growing medical expenses, please donate now. We, the friends and family of Sammaiah, are grateful for any contributions. Thank you very much!
Other information:
Who is the organizer of this campaign?
My name is Marisa Meisters, and I’m one of a team of easily 20 friends who are working behind the scenes to help Sammaiah and his family. Each of us is taking on responsibilities to help, according to our individual strengths. I’ve always been a strong writer, so I’ve taken responsibility for setting up and maintaining this GoFundMe account. I’m also being helped greatly by a lot of friends who are providing me with background information, translations where needed, and photographs. I run a small business. I’m a wife and mother as well.
When something tragic happens to a friend, you feel that there’s never enough you can do to help. Other friends are connecting with professionals to help Sammaiah's wife navigate through options and ideas, yet others are translating for her between Telugu and English, etc. We’re doing whatever we can to work as a team. I’m only a small part of the effort, both in the USA and in Sammaiah's home country of India.
Where is Marisa from?
I live in Milton, Georgia. It’s about a 45 minute drive from downtown Atlanta (assuming good traffic conditions).
My relationship to Sammaiah:
My husband has worked with Sammaiah for the past 10 years on various office projects. Once in a while, Sammaiah has come to the USA to work on some projects. I’ve known him for a similarly long amount of time. He’s one of the genuinely nicest people I’ve ever met.
How will the funds collected be used?
I opened a separate bank account specifically to collect all funds and donations for Sammaiah so that it does not get commingled with any personal funds. I promise to withdraw money on behalf of his family and give it directly to his family, or send it directly to pay for medial needs, rehab, and/or the family's financial support - whatever the family prefers.
Organizer
Marisa Meisters
Organizer
Alpharetta, GA
