Support for Laura & Dave during this heartbreaking tragedy

Not long after I moved to Oxford, Pennsylvania in 2001, my husband Mike came home with baby chickens. Then my father gave Mike a few more chickens. And so it began - we have had chickens ever since.

Why am I telling you this? Well, when it was time for vacation that summer, we realized we needed someone to look after our flock. Thankfully through a friend of a friend, we were introduced to Laura Praksti of Praksti’s Pet Sitting Service. Laura was a life saver! We found someone who would visit our chickens twice a day during our vacation. When we came home, Laura had not only cared for our flock, but she also brought the mail in every day and rolled our trash cans up the driveway for us after it was collected. We learned, that’s Laura…she always goes above and beyond.

Fast forward almost two decades and Laura is still our ‘pet sitter’ – she has cycled through many flocks, dogs, and cats with us. Caring for them when we can’t, as if they are her own. And we are only one of many ‘regular’ clients Laura has in Oxford and West Grove. But Laura is more than a ‘pet sitter’ – Laura is my friend, and I have grown to love her over the years. We can talk…and talk…and talk about, well…just about everything! The one discussion we consistently have is about our kids. We are both mothers of ‘only’ adult children who reside in faraway states (Florida and Texas). We share stories about our kids, our love for them, our visits with them and often counsel each other when we are worried about them.

To that, Laura has been helping her son Alex manage a devastating knee injury for the past two years. Laura and her husband Dave have traveled to Florida to care for Alex after his surgeries, most recently after his fifth surgery in May. Alex suffered this injury rock climbing on a first date, and it changed Alex’s life. Before the injury, Alex was living his dream as a chef in Jacksonville, Florida. But after the knee injury, he was no longer able to work. With each surgery, we hoped and prayed it would be the one that healed Alex’s knee. Alex was doing well after his surgery in May…he was going to physical therapy and making progress. And then he broke his patella (kneecap) in July. This was a painful and major setback for Alex. When Laura and Dave had not heard from Alex for days, they asked his neighbor to check on him last Monday. Tragically, the neighbor found Alex on the floor in his living room. Alex had passed away at the young age of 29. All signs point to a blood clot – which is always a fear with knee injuries. Laura and Dave were/are heartbroken and crushed. They flew to Florida the next morning. They are still in Florida moving Alex’s belongings, closing accounts, and doing everything one must do when someone passes away. As Alex was not working at the time of his passing, he did not have life insurance.

I am creating this GoFundMe to help Laura and Dave with travel and hotel expenses, funeral home expenses and lost wages. As Laura is self-employed, she will need to put her business on pause for several weeks.

Because of her business and love of animals, Laura is well known in our small town. She always goes the extra mile for her clients, friends, and family. My goal is to collect $8000.00 to help defray the extra and unexpected expenses Laura and Dave are incurring at this very sad time. Alex was a special, kind, and beautiful human. He will be sorely missed by so many, but his loving parents will miss him the most – forever. Thank you for any amount you can kindly contribute.