I met Christy Thompson under the saddest of circumstances you could imagine:

Christy’s husband passed away over the summer, leaving Christy to cope with raising their two young daughters, as well as her own serious health conditions – Christy has both Lupus and Leukemia.

More recently, she and her daughters were caught in the middle of a 5 car pile-up on I-65, leaving Christy’s little girls, aged 4 and 6, with serious injuries. Christy, who was thrown through the windshield, was left with a broken leg and a broken foot.

I got connected with Christy because her late husband, Darnell, used to work with a close friend of mine, at a chemical plant in Louisville, Kentucky. Darnell would work long overnight shifts to support his two young daughters and their mother – his wife, Christy.

Christy, who is 33, has suffered from Lupus since 2014. She’s also been battling Leukemia since December of 2015.

Christy tells me that, with her health conditions, she and Darnell had made plans in case Christy didn’t survive. Understandably.

They couldn’t imagine that Darnell would pass before Christy. But Darnell, who was in seemingly good health, suffered from a massive heart attack over the weekend of July 4th this past year.

Christy performed CPR on Darnell for almost 20 minutes while an ambulance raced to them, but it was no use.

They were visiting Darnell’s sister in Atlanta when he died. With Christy’s health conditions, they’d been forced to pretty much live paycheck-to-paycheck, and Darnell’s company ended up paying for his body to be brought back to Louisville, and for his funeral.

Christy and her girls have been doing their best on their own. After months of treatment, Christy’s Leukemia was downgraded from Level 2 to Level 1, and she found work at a Wal-Mart in the area. But then there was the car accident, and now Christy doesn’t know what she’s going to do.

Medicaid pays for some of her treatment for Lupus and Leukemia. Darnell used to cover the remainder, but now he’s gone, and Christy won’t be able to return to work until sometime next spring.

She’s applied for and been granted food stamps. Things are tight, though.

Christy is struggling to make ends meet, and in many ways, she and her daughters are alone, without any familial support.

After I heard their story, all I could think about was how this family needed help. That’s where this GoFundMe came from. And while no amount of money can make up for the loss of Darnell, who both deeply loved his family and was loved deeply by them in return, our goal with this fundraiser is to give Christy and her daughters some financial stability as they recover from these devastating events.

And though Christy is healing and will hopefully be able to find work in the spring of 2023, they need help now. Christy is struggling each month to pay their rent and utilities. She can’t drive yet because of her broken leg and foot, but she’ll need a car in the future to get to work. Our goal is to raise $10,000 for Christy and her daughters, to get them through until Christy will hopefully be well enough to work again in the spring.

If you’re able to donate, I know that any contribution will be so appreciated by Christy and her daughters. When I last spoke to Christy on the phone, she spoke candidly of the family’s struggles, but it was very clear to me that she’s a fighter.

“Mommy always finds a way,” I heard Christy say to her 6-year-old before we got off the phone.

Please share this with your friends, and if you can donate, please do. I know Christy, her girls, and Darnell will appreciate it more than you can imagine.