Support for Katherine O’Connell’s Medical Bills and Family

This fundraiser is to help cover medical and other family costs associated with the passing of my wife Katherine Mary O'Connell, who passed away April 3 2025. Any amount will help and would be strongly appreciated since we live paycheck to paycheck with not much money left over for the other special things in life.

Kathy took an unexpected turn in health out of the blue due to multiple issues hitting her all at once. It started out as a chronic cough, then one day she felt extremely tired and did not wake up from sleeping. I thought this was normal due to her demanding job role as a store manager for Office Depot, so I let her sleep, thinking everything was going to be okay. It was now past 12, and she still wanted to sleep. She kept telling me to let her sleep a little longer, so I did.

Now it was 3 PM, and I went to get her up. This was when I felt something was seriously wrong as she could not balance herself to walk without assistance. She was pretty much out of it, said she was confused, and mentally looked out of it. I felt like it might have been a stroke. This is when I drove her to the emergency room to get her checked out. I took her blood pressure and pulse before leaving the house, and both were quite elevated, which was a big red flag because she always had perfect blood pressure. Kathy was always putting others before herself and neglected her own personal care. Ironically, she had a doctor's appointment the next morning at 9 AM, which she wanted to get a full checkup since she had not seen a doctor for over 10 years and was way past overdue. They found her sugar levels were off the charts, and that is why she was so tired and disoriented. Multiple tests were required due to her lack of having any health history records on file. The doctors worked hard and said her state of health was normal due to the elevated conditions and should improve within a few days. However, she developed the flu, and body scans revealed a more troubling issue with her lungs which had a infection. Kathy was a smoker for many years. She quit for a brief time while pregnant with her 2 surviving children Kara and Ryan. They found 3 large lesions on her lungs, which was also bad news because the infection went through her system. Several tests have been done but nothing conclusive. Her breathing now became extremely deep and heavy, a big issue because of the flu combined with her bad lungs, and trying to get her diabetes under control wreaked havoc on her system, causing things to shut down one by one, creating a perfect storm which took our family by surprise.

God bless her and all that have knowh the person she is and for all she has done for others through the years.