My Dad's name is Brian Clark. He has always worked long, hard hours in manufacturing, which has damaged his body. In 2010, he had his first surgery on his right knee and was told to find a new line of work, or his knee and back would be unusable in the future. Unfortunately, that was not an option with me, my older brother Billy, my younger brother Brandon, and our Mom, all relying on him. He kept working until he couldn't physically stand anymore. From there, he just got worse. He gained weight. Not just the 10-20 pounds you might put on over the winter. We are talking over 100 pounds in just over 10 months because of steroid treatments and inactivity. He was so bad in 2018 that he had Asthma and Restrictive Lung Disease due to his weight, which led to chronic respiratory failure. He was also a Type 2 diabetic and was at risk for heart failure. Then, on October 24, 2018, he was intubated (a tube put down his throat) because he couldn't breathe on his own. We were afraid that he wouldn't make it, but he did. He fought on. In 2019, heart failure was added to the ever-expanding list of diagnoses. The fear of losing him was ever-present, and by the time the world was shutting down because of COVID-19, our Dad was back in the hospital, and we were sure that we would never see him again. He was in a coma for several days in hopes that it would allow him time to heal. Even the Doctors weren't sure it would work and told us to prepare for the worst.

Yet again, he surprised us all, and he came home. When he went into the hospital in 2020, he weighed about 485 pounds. When he came out, he weighed in at 375, but his leg muscles were not strong enough to carry him, and he had to use a four-wheeled walker to get around. He tried to be active like he was, knowing that if he gained the weight back, he might not make it out of the hospital again. He did well not putting a lot of weight back on, but he did get up to 450.

Then, something wonderful happened in 2022. My Dad found an amazing friend who was fighting her own battle against Multiple Sclerosis. She had spent some time in a wheelchair and with different walkers before she graduated to a cane. She showed our Dad different ways he can strengthen his legs and encouraged him to ask different questions of his doctors. They found out that his testosterone was so low that he wasn't able to rebuild muscle, and he qualified for a new drug to help with his diabetes called Mounjaro. Just those 2 simple changes, along with the diet and exercise she taught him, allowed our Dad to get down to 265! We couldn't be prouder. On January 9, 2025, he finally got his left shoulder replaced. On May 1st, 2025, he will get the right knee replaced, the knee that started this whole thing. When he gets back on his feet after that, the Doctors will schedule the left knee replacement, and he will be one step closer to being BIONIC! After all of this, he also qualifies for skin removal of the massive amount of hanging skin in his midsection.

He has a lot of extra skin around his chest. Unfortunately, insurance will not cover that portion of the skin removal because the sores and rashes he gets under what is essentially breast tissue don't get to the point of open sores. If we can come up with the extra money to pay for the removal of the upper chest at the same time as they do the abdomen, we only need to get $10,000. If we wait and don't raise enough money, the chest surgery will double to nearly $20,000 because of additional charges for another operating room and anesthesiologist.

The $10,000 will help cover the cost of the extra time for the OR staff and room. So we are asking for 10,000 people to donate $1.00 each so that my Dad, the man who broke his body just providing for his family, the man that has come so far and fought so hard, doesn't have to feel self-conscious just wearing a tank top in the summer.