Support for Phil Stegner's Family

Chelsea Stegner and I have been best friends since the late nineties when we were 8 years old, and Phil instantly welcomed me into their family and dragster racing hobby. A defining moment in our friendship was when Chelsea started her career in hair by trying to fix some awful bangs that I gave to myself. Since then her talent has improved dramatically – check out her Instagram @cstegner_hairstylist for proof, and the family style love they gave me has only grown. I was grateful that Phil included me in their dragster racing pit crew and made me feel like an important member, even though I was only skilled at holding the video camera. This was his style! Phil Stegner treated so many people, especially Chelsea’s friends, like we were family.
 
Since February 2nd Chelsea has been managing two households – her rental in Arkansas and her father’s home in Oklahoma City. At the end of January, the Stegners thought that Phil just needed a simple stent, but the doctors changed their minds and recommended a double bypass instead. Everything seemed okay, Phil had recovered from other surgeries just fine – even this surgery, he was doing great post-op!
 
However, in the amount of time it took for Chelsea to drive home from the hospital, everything had changed for the worse. Phil was critical in the ICU for the next 34 days. Chelsea stayed in Oklahoma throughout that time, through a horrific ice storm, and visited him in the hospital every day possible to hold his hand and encourage him to keep healing. Week after week he exceeded the doctors’ expectations. He regained some consciousness during the last week, to say goodbye and make sure that Chelsea knew how deeply he loved her.
 
The transition from just a stent, to a smooth, successful bypass surgery, to coding in recovery, to finally passing quietly after a tough, month-long fight to stay alive happened so quickly! If you knew Phil, you knew that Chelsea was his entire world, and the only thing he wanted in life was for her to be taken care of. No one, including the doctors, anticipated such a sharp turn for the worst. Chelsea spent the last moments with her dad comforting him, and he used that time to quietly communicate how much he loved her. They were not focused on finalizing a will or making sure that her name was also on every legal document.
 
Because of that, Chelsea has found herself having to make the terrible choice of whether to take time to grieve and plan a celebration or to rush back to work in order to afford the upkeep of these two households and the animals inside them, while the courts decide who should take over Phil’s estate. Although Chelsea was his only daughter, it will take at least 6 months before a decision is made or any financial assistance is given to Chelsea – it is a very real possibility is that she might not get any help at all.
 
Phil was very proud and took care of everyone else, often leaving his needs on the back burner and he raised Chelsea to do the same. I wouldn’t ask for help on their behalf, except in order for Chelsea to carry on Phil’s legacy and intensely care for others, she needs to take some time to figure out where to live, how to condense two households filled with memories and fur babies into one, and most importantly grieve losing her best friend, her rock, her dad.
 
Any money donated will be used to help Chelsea cover the costs of Phil’s celebration of life, pay the bills to keep his house running, feed and care for the animals they’ve adopted, and help Chelsea afford the bare necessities. As a hair dresser, the month that she spent by her dad’s side was completely unpaid. Although she spent years building an emergency fund, that was hit hard in March 2020 when she was forced to stop working due to COVID-19. Please wrap your arms around Chelsea and support her as she grieves.