Hello, I'm Wendell "Stretch" Clendennen, and I'm a balloon artist, photographer, and also portray Santa during the holiday season. I also do woodcrafts and make custom frames and other items. On Monday morning, September 8th, I was working on some crafts and got the middle finger and ring finger on my left hand caught in my table saw. The blade tore large chunks of tissue out of both fingers, shaved some bone off a section of my middle finger, and almost severed the tip of my ring finger. It also clipped an artery in my middle finger.

I was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital and ended up spending the night in ICU because they had difficulty stopping the bleeding, and ended up putting a tourniquet on my arm to get it to stop. The doctor referred me to a hand specialist due to the extensive damage. He is going to try to save all of both fingers, but we won't know for sure until he sees me and makes a more accurate assessment. There will definitely be reconstructive surgery and skin grafts to repair the damage.

I have already had to cancel several days of shoots this week, and I'm not sure how many more days of work I will miss out on due to the surgery and recovery process. As a gig/contract worker, I don't get paid time off, so no work means no pay. I am asking for help to replace the missing income to help cover our monthly living expenses.

I know times are hard for many right now, so I'm not asking anyone to make major sacrifices to help out. If you have some money that you can spare and are willing to help out, it will be greatly appreciated by Jo and me. If you don't have any extra to contribute, please help out by sharing this with friends, family, and coworkers who may be able to help out in some way. No amount is too small, and anything you can do to help means the world to us.