Support Loretta's Journey Home

Help Bring Loretta Home

We, the family of James and Loretta Tillman, have written the following on their behalf:

Rev. James Tillman has been a Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) minister for over twenty five years. He has led many congregations with Loretta Tillman, who is his partner in life and ministry. James and Loretta, along with family members, resided in Winston-Salem, North Carolina for many years. He pastored at a church in Winston-Salem, and in 2015 he was appointed to a church in Long Beach, California, where he has been a pastor for the last nine years.

In February of 2020 Loretta, who had been diagnosed with asthma, began having breathing problems at home. Her inhaler did not provide her relief, so James took her to the emergency room. Upon arriving at the emergency room, Loretta was placed in a wheelchair and then waited to be seen. While they were waiting, Loretta tried her inhaler again. But then, her name was finally called. As the nurse was pushing her, Loretta said to James, “I can’t breathe”. He called out to the nurse, and said, “She can’t breathe!” James went around to the front of the wheelchair and at that moment, Loretta began to fall forward. Fortunately, James was able to catch her fall. He yelled out again, “Help us, she’s not breathing!”

The staff went into coding mode, placed her on the bed and started CPR. A moment or so later they got a heartbeat and proceeded with life-saving measures to stabilize her. At that point James was ushered out of the area. As you can imagine, he was traumatized in the wake of the circumstances. As time passed, they continued to work on her. Loretta was finally stabilized and was then taken to the ICU. James was called in later. The diagnosis was an asthma attack. Loretta was placed in a medically induced coma to give her time to heal.

During this time, James began to visit Loretta daily. She started coming out of the coma. She was stable, but still unresponsive. The doctors stated that they would continue to monitor her condition.

Fast forward to March 2020, when COVID hit the entire country.

The State of California and the whole country was locked down due to the pandemic. The hospital shut down and no visitors were allowed!

After Loretta was in the hospital for about three months, the doctors recommended that she be moved to a skilled nursing facility specializing in respiratory therapy.

Loretta was then transported to Rio Hondo Subacute Nursing Center, this facility was also on lock-down. For about a year, James was unable to visit Loretta. During this time, the staff coordinated two video conferences, so James could see Loretta. Remember, during the pandemic, medical facilities were understaffed and the medical staff were overworked.

This was most definitely a dark time for both James and Loretta.

At this time, James will be transferred back to Winston-Salem, where he will be the Pastor at a new church. James is unable to have Loretta travel with him, as she must have special transportation requirements. She cannot be moved by any ground method; subsequently, Loretta must be flown from California to North Carolina.

She will need to be transported via a medical aircraft, which will be fully medically equipped and with trained medical staff. Loretta will require door-to-door service, which means she will be transferred from her current subacute nursing facility to a new subacute facility in Winston Salem, NC. The cost to contract this type of aircraft is expensive and overwhelming. However, it is the ONLY method of transportation allowing Loretta to travel back to her home, where she will be around family. Her family will help provide support during her recovery process.

The enormous cost of this medical flight is why we desperately need your donations to facilitate Loretta’s flight home. Your contribution, no matter the size, will make a meaningful difference in Loretta’s transfer to North Carolina to be with her family.

Thank You for your continued thoughts, support and prayers!

Help Loretta return home to Winston-Salem, North Carolina.