On November 14th, my close friend Audrey (24 years old) had to get her leg amputated after a gross incident of hospital malpractice left her paralyzed from the knee down. For the past few years, she has been unable to work due to severe mental health issues and has already struggled to get by, living almost entirely off of SSI disability income. Furthermore, Audrey lives on her own and doesn’t have much local support from loved ones (both financially and emotionally) throughout this painful recovery process. Audrey is one of the most caring people I’ve ever met and has dealt with an unfathomable amount of pain for someone so young. She really needs help so I wanted to start this fund to help her with any expenses that will arise throughout her challenging journey to recovery. This includes medical expenses, living expenses, transportation, food, housing accommodations, mobility devices, and anything else to help her feel safe and supported.

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To share some background into her situation, Audrey has struggled with severe mental health issues for most of her life including but not limited to schizoaffective disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), dissociative identity disorder (DID), borderline personality disorder (BPD), and major depressive disorder (MDD). These conditions have made it incredibly challenging for her to function and as a result, she is unable to work and has been placed in intensive mental health rehab programs.

In 2023, Audrey was suddenly hospitalized after a case of compartment syndrome in her left leg. Rather than being sent to a neurological center, she was unjustifiably sent to the psychiatric wing of the hospital solely due to her history with mental illness. Despite her repeated pleas that something was wrong with her leg and despite displaying several abnormal physical symptoms, the staff members ignored her begging for help and kept her in the psychiatric wing where her leg was left untreated for several days. After eventually being transferred to the ICU, her condition was still not taken seriously by the staff and they even made her walk on her leg. This caused severe nerve damage to develop in her leg which has now resulted in her leg being cut off. In other words, the only reason Audrey lost her leg was because nobody had taken the pain she was going through seriously.

Even though her leg amputation surgery was a success, Audrey still faces a challenging road ahead of her as she must go through intense physical therapy and extensive medical visits to ensure she is pain free and is able to walk again. Coupled with the draining mental health treatment she has already been receiving, all of this combined has been a lot for her to handle.

On top of this, Audrey lives by herself and survives almost entirely off of disability income for her mental illnesses. This income is barely livable as it is and combining this with the additional expenses that will arise throughout her recovery (prosthetic legs, housing accommodations, mobility devices, etc.), it’s unfeasible for her to handle all of this by herself financially. Her insurance has already confirmed they are not covering some of these expenses, which will lead to unexpected financial roadblocks that will disrupt her recovery.

Almost all of Audrey’s closest friends live 2+ hours away from her and outside of a few loved ones who are able to visit her occasionally, she doesn’t have many people to be there by her side while she goes through this painful journey to recovery. Without an extra set of hands to aid her with everyday tasks, it’s important she has access to delivery services, transportation, and any other accommodations as she grows acclimated to this new way of life.

Every penny of this fund will be going directly to Audrey to help her with the previously mentioned expenses throughout her recovery. She has already been struggling with so much and alleviating her financial burden would allow her to focus on herself during such a difficult time.

Audrey has been a light in the dark for countless people who are struggling and always tries to look out for her friends despite everything she’s dealing with. This is why it has also been so heartbreaking to see all of the struggles she has had to endure over the years. Nobody should have to deal with so much at such a young age, especially someone as bright, funny, and loving as Audrey. The doctors refused to listen to her while she begged for help in the psychiatric wing so it’s important that we listen to her as she needs our support right now.

Every penny helps and even if you’re unable to donate, sharing this page goes a long way!

Thank you for reading,

Liam