My magical friend Noëlle is an artist, a gardener, a chef. She uses her hands all day, every day, to beautify the world and feed the people in it. She is one of those huge-hearted individuals who never hesitates to reach out and support others, but she struggles to ask for help for herself. So I’m doing it for her.

Let me get right to the point: Next week, a surgeon is going to amputate Noëlle’s index finger from her dominant hand. You know. The MOST important finger? Yeah.

HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN? Early in December, Noëlle got a tiny scratch on her finger from a thorn or a stick, something that happens all the time at her job as a gardener. She didn’t think anything about it when it happened. No big deal. But days went by, and the wound didn’t close. It didn’t start to heal.

On December 6, she worked her last shift at her second job with her finger wrapped in bandages, still bleeding. After a visit to a virtual urgent care and a round of antibiotics that didn’t have any effect, she went to an in-person urgent care. They gave her another round of antibiotics and some ointment and sent her home.

Her wound continued to deteriorate, still failing to close.

On December 30, Noëlle went to the ER with intense pain and was admitted to the hospital. She stayed for five days. During that time, she learned that an eschar (dead/dying necrotic tissue) had formed over the wound, and that there was some type of infection, either bacterial or fungal, underneath. For days, she waited with growing anxiety for the MRI to become available so they could formally diagnose her condition and establish a plan for treatment.

Also during that time, her health insurance ran out.

In pain, undiagnosed, and fully panicked about racking up an unpayable bill, Noëlle left the hospital against medical advice. Uninsured and unable to work, she felt she had no other option.

Her symptoms continued to worsen. After a consult with an orthopedic surgeon, she was sent to another hospital and admitted, finally receiving the critical MRI the next morning. Unfortunately, the results showed that the infection had spread. The bone tissue in her infected finger was dead. The team recommended amputation.

Noëlle has not been able to work since December. After the surgery, she will obviously require additional down time for physical and emotional recovery.

If you have the means, please contribute what you can to help Noëlle pay her bills and keep her needs met while she copes with the fallout from this slow-motion freak accident. If you can’t contribute, please share this fundraiser. Noëlle deserves to feel safe from immediate financial crisis while she undertakes the important work of healing her body and her heart from this unexpected and frankly tragic loss.

Thank you!