**Update** 09-12-2025

Marios illness that has been going on since late April/May, has taken a turn for the worse. On August 14th, @1pm, he had a grand mal seizure & did not immediately regain consciousness. I called 911 as I was home caring for him, he was taken by ambulance to St Francis Hospital. He was placed into a coma, breathing tube, the whole thing for approximately one week. They ran a million tests but all that was revealed was that he was septic, high WBC, & the source of the sepsis appears to be in his colon, which is very inflamed - we dont know if it’s diseased, infected etc. They had him on IV antibiotics for a week. He’s home now, but still struggling with symptoms, weakness, fatigue, unable to work etc. We have a great team of DRs that are running all the tests on him still. But to say that this has been difficult is a massive understatement. Ive had to take FMLA from work to care for him due to the fall/seizure risk. My claim is still pending and we have been without income for over a month. In addition to this, we are now down to one car. When it rains, it truly does pour. Anything, that can be given is truly appreciated ❤️

My name is Amanda Smith and I am raising money for my partner Mario Ricca.

On Tuesday, May 13, in the early morning hours, Mario was driving north on Bushy Hill Road when 3 deer came out from the side of the road, the first deer head butted the right front side of Mario‘s vehicle in the headlight area. He was driving the speed limit. This knocked his vehicle out of control, he then went directly through an electrical pole, and eventually crashed into a tree. This occurred in someone’s front yard, he was subsequently blocking the exit to their driveway. He knocked their electricity out. The owners of the home came out with flashlights, saw his vehicle, and called 911. The police were there quickly & had the street light/electricity fixed a few hours later as well. Mario has since gone to the home to apologize for waking them up so early in the morning and offered down his services for free as an Olive branch. Mario is an extremely selfless person that tends to think about others before himself but right now he needs a little bit of help himself.

His 2016 Chevy Silverado is totaled. As many people may know insurance companies pay out ACV on vehicle claims. Therefore, he is getting much less than he anticipated for the value of his vehicle.

Our other costs are medical bills. We have an $8000 family deductible we now have to meet. Mario has started having chronic illness symptoms around the same time as this accident and we aren’t sure what is going on.

We are both very hard-working people that have never asked for anything before, so this is outside of our comfort zone. If you can give, any amount is truly appreciated. If you cannot donate, sharing the link helps us a ton

Thank you for taking the time to read.❤️