Sherryl Fitzpatrick - Medical Assistance Fund

Please take a moment to read this message regarding my good friend, Sherryl Fitzpatrick.

On February 26th Sherryl fell while skiing, which resulted in a badly broken leg. After having two sets of X-rays and a CT scan, it was determined that she had fractured her leg in two places - a broken fibula and tibia, and also tore the deltoid and syndesmosis ligaments of her ankle. She had surgery on March 8th to insert screws and a plate to stabilize her ankle. She is not permitted to bear any weight on her foot for 12 weeks.

Sherryl makes her living by teaching fiddle & piano lessons, performing, and coaching skiing. Due to pain and having to keep her leg elevated, she has been forced to severely limit her teaching, and to cancel all of her upcoming performances and coaching. The unavoidable loss of work and medical expenses including extensive physiotherapy and house preparations so that she can conduct basic daily activities with the use of medical devices,will be a heavy financial burden over the next few months.

Sherryl is a giving person with a kind heart and has generously shared her time helping others. I’ve had the pleasure to see her in action, teaching at music camps, and performing on stage. Her passion for music is inspiring. Over the last few years, I have enjoyed getting to know her even better as a board member for “Fiddles on the Rideau”. This Canadian musical heritage event was dreamed up by Sherryl in May 2021 to promote and preserve Canadian Fiddle music and to raise awareness and financial aid for local mental health organizations in Ottawa. She is so driven and dedicated to this cause, that she continued to work on our sponsorship campaign hours after breaking her leg!

Now is our chance to give back. ALL proceeds will go to Sherryl, so if you’d like to support her during this challenging time, this is a great way to do it! Any amount is greatly appreciated. If you are unable to assist monetarily, I know that messages of support and encouragement would mean the world to Sherryl.

Many thanks,

Chad

A message from Sherryl:

“When an accident like this occurs, the most obvious area where we are impacted is financially. Another aspect of losing out on playing with my peers on a regular basis is the loss of connectedness, developing and growing our friendships with every rehearsal, gig, travelling to and from gigs and the pure joy of belonging to a musical family and sharing our love and passion to bring joy to others. It’s this loss that I struggle with and not seeing my students regularly. I realize through this experience that I’m a “people” person and that I don’t like being alone.

On a positive note, I didn’t break my arms or my hands. I can still play however I can’t stand without the use of crutches and can only stay in a standing position for 5 minutes before my leg starts swelling and throbbing. I can only play sitting down with my leg elevated. I’m still in too much pain to sit for any length of time. I will be able to perform again at some point for which I’m thankful for.

Due to the fact I can’t go anywhere and I basically move from the couch to the bed since Feb 26th, I have had many visitors during this time. It reminds me of the old days when you didn’t need an invitation to someone’s house, you just dropped in! I’ve had friends from different parts of my life meeting each other, having meals together, laughing, watching movies, sharing stories and just enjoying being present. This would have never happened had I not broken my leg. There is always a silver lining and blessings to be had. Much love Sherryl xo”