Support Ellie's rehabilitation and home care

Team fundraiser

Audrey Ferguson and Amy Hudson are organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Ellie Ferguson.

Donation protected

On June 9, 2021, as Ellie Ferguson was gathering with friends and family after the graveside service for her cousin Matthew, the unimaginable happened. Ellie fell ill and was rushed to St. Joseph’s Hospital in her hometown of Atlanta, GA where doctors discovered a brain hemorrhage and airlifted her to Emory Hospital for emergency surgery. Her official diagnosis was an ICH (intracranial hemorrhage) caused by a rare congenital condition: AVM (arteriovenous malformation), a tangle of abnormal blood vessels connecting arteries and veins. She came through the surgery, but this severe brain trauma left her in critical condition and paralyzed in half of her body.

*Painting of Ellie in ICU by her partner, Willem Kaiser. Photos of Ellie & Willem courtesy of Monique Davidson.

Ellie survived and overcame tremendous obstacles through several weeks in the ICU, hospital and inpatient rehabilitation. Now that she is home, the challenges she faces will determine the course of her future. We are at a VERY critical juncture in her journey to healing, and TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE. Her outpatient rehabilitation sessions were just beginning to make a difference, but they are now expiring. Her insurance provided her with only a minimal number of sessions for physical, occupational and speech therapy at just 45 minutes each. Last week, she went seven days without ANY physical therapy. This is unacceptable.

Ellie is still in a wheelchair the majority of the time and continues to experience serious mobility issues on her left side. If she is to have a chance for full recovery, she MUST be participating regularly in a comprehensive rehabilitation program. She cannot do this alone. She will need our help. We are raising $100,000 for Ellie to receive:

Intensive physical therapy to walk again
Intensive occupational therapy to regain the use of her left arm
Speech therapy to recover her short term memory & attention span
Professional caregivers to step in when her family are at work and school. She needs care round the clock, 24/7.

Every gift counts! Whether you can give $10, $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000 or more, Ellie will feel your love and your gift will play a substantial role in helping us achieve our goal.

We cannot let Ellie come this far to be left without the tools to fully recover. She needs an aggressive rehabilitation program as quickly as possible to continue with the progress she has made. We are diligently working to get Ellie into The Shepherd Center’s Pathways program. In the meantime, we must move forward immediately with the best possible options available now. We are coming together during this critical time to help with the exorbitant financial costs that are required for the help she needs. And that does not include lost wages and regular day-to-day living expenses during this difficult time.

Ellie is a passionate and talented young woman of 26 - with an infectious sense of humor, immense creativity and an incredible attitude to overcome her circumstances. Let’s celebrate the gift of life that she has been given by equipping her with the resources she needs to FULLY recover. She is eager to work hard so she can get back to all the things she was born to do!
She comes from a family of musicians and plays a mean mandolin, guitar, banjo & fiddle. She needs the use of her left arm and hand to pick those instruments back up again!
She’s an exceptional artist who creates with her hands - drawing, painting, collaging, knitting, weaving.... While she is already back at it, drawing and painting with her right hand, so much of her art requires the use of BOTH arms and hands.
Even her garden and meals are works of art. If you know Ellie, you know she was always on the go prior to her illness. She is eager to get back to work and school to continue pursuing her degree in art education at GSU. She needs and deserves the chance to be able to WALK again and to use her left arm again.

Ellie has come such a long way from ICU, but her journey to full healing begins NOW. We need to raise $100,000: Your gift of $10, $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000 or more will help put Ellie on the road to recovery. With the love and support of our amazing community, she will get there!