Hello! My name is Auraelia Taylor. I am a nurse and mom of 4, originally from Kerrville, and 2 years ago I moved to the wonderful city of San Antonio. I love my city, but that isn’t what this is about.

In March of 2026, I sustained pretty damaging grease burns to both of my arms. Due to life circumstances, bills piling up, etc., I did not want to miss work and seek medical treatment. Until, that is, I no longer had a choice.

I tried my hardest to take care of my wounds at home; however, they still got severely infected. The skin on the top of my arms was completely damaged, leading to infectious abscesses under my skin. If I didn’t bite the bullet and go to the doctor, I knew I was in danger of losing my arms. On Friday, May 1, 2026, my wife Michelle convinced me to go to the emergency room. I went in thinking I’d get a couple of bags of IV antibiotics, a prescription for oral antibiotics, and wound care instructions and be on my merry way.

Once I was seen at the ER, the doctor transferred me to Methodist Hospital, and I have been admitted to their burn and reconstructive unit since that Friday.

After a lot of imaging and tests, it was confirmed that my wounds were not only infected on the outside, they also had areas of abscess all the way down into the subcutaneous tissue. I went in for my first surgery on May 5th, where they removed all of the infected tissue on both arms and replaced it with donor skin, but this was just the beginning. I have a total of 3 surgeries I have to have. My next one is on May 11th. Depending on how that goes, I may need a skin graft done during my 3rd surgery.

I was hoping to do these next surgeries as an outpatient so I could get back to working and making money in the meantime; however, we got word that my blood cultures they took at the ER were growing a gram-positive rod bacteria, which can cause more damage than I already have. So I am on 4 different broad-range antibiotics to try and ensure the bacteria doesn’t kill the donor skin I just got.

This whole process has just been a whirlwind, and my wife has been having to be the sole caregiver of our children at home, while also trying to work at her job as an ER nurse, which is demanding enough on its own.

We are desperately trying to keep bills paid and keep food on the table for the kids, but on 1 income and a LOT of unforeseen circumstances, keeping everything paid has us drowning. Plus, we haven’t even touched on my medical bills, physical therapy, and equipment I may need to heal once I do finally get to go home.

We are humbly asking for some help. We don’t like it, but we are running out of other options. We are at the end of our rope here and have exhausted all measures

I understand times are hard for everyone, so if you can’t donate, that is okay. Sharing this along is appreciated in hopes our situation can reach the hearts of some good people. Prayers, happy thoughts, and good vibes are welcome too!

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I’ve defied all odds in life so far, and I plan to do the same now. Love you guys.