Support Needed After Car Accident and Surgeries

On July 31st, 2024, I was involved in a major rear-end accident on I10 south of Phoenix. Traffic was coming to a slowdown ahead, so I turned on my hazard lights and was slowing down. A driver who was not paying attention to the road came up behind me at full speed and rear-ended me. My car was launched into the side of a semi-truck cab and then ricocheted into a cable fence in the freeway median. The car rode over the cable fence, tearing up the undercarriage and eventually bringing me to a stop. I am extremely lucky that I walked away from the accident with minimal injuries, but my car was completely destroyed. Although the other driver was found to be 100% at fault, I do not expect to receive much money from his insurance for my car, as it was fairly old (2008 Toyota Scion).

I am normally the type of person who keeps a healthy emergency savings fund around for exactly this kind of thing. Unfortunately, before I was involved in this accident, I was already dealing with another difficult situation which has been financially costly. This past summer, I needed to have two gynecological surgeries (the first on June 12th and the second on July 22nd) for an uncommon condition, which my health insurance would not pay any money for, plus travel expenses, since the type of surgery I needed is only performed by two doctors in the United States - one of whom is in Los Angeles. I was originally only expected to need one surgery and be recovered in time to return to work at the beginning of the new school year (I am a school bus driver). However, when I found out I would need a second surgery, this meant that I would need to take more time off of work during the recovery period. The doctor told me I am not allowed to lift more than 10-15 lbs, but in order to do my job I need to be able to lift and carry 50 lbs (such as carrying children off buses in emergencies), among other physical fitness requirements.

My employer granted me a 30-day medical leave until September 5, but since I have been at this job less than one year, I do not qualify for FMLA, which means that my 30 days medical leave is unpaid. I have attempted to apply for the Short Term Disability benefit that I enrolled in through my work, but the company which provides this benefit is trying to deny my claim, based on the fact that the problem my surgery is intended to fix was a pre-existing condition.

All of these recent events (the two surgeries I paid for out of pocket, the lost income from being unable to work while recovering from surgery, and now the car being totaled) mean that my emergency savings is quickly bleeding out. I need money to pay my bills for the next month until I can return to work, and I need money for a down payment on a new car. $1500 would cover my August expenses and $3500 would help with the car down payment.

I am not the type of person who asks people for help. I have paid all of my own bills since graduating from college (and most of them even before graduating from college), I have always lived within my means, and I do not have debts. But this summer has been exceptional in the amount of chaos that has wreaked havoc on my life. If these events had happened spaced apart from each other over the course of a year, I maybe would have been able to handle them on my own one at a time. Unfortunately, that is not how they happened, and I'm realizing that I cannot handle everything by myself. So I am taking a leap of faith and asking the world for help.

Any amount you can give, no matter how big or small, is greatly appreciated. If you can share with friends and family to spread the word, that will help me as well.