The Woodruff Clan’s Emergency Recovery Fund

Greetings, my name is Chris Riccio and I’d like to tell you a little bit about my great friend Earl who is going through a very difficult time.

Late last Monday night, Earl woke up to sharp pains in his stomach which quickly turned into excruciating and unbearable pain. When he told Sam to call an ambulance, she knew this was very serious. After 3 days of tests, scans and a colonoscopy, Earl was discharged with an initial diagnosis of Crohn’s disease.

After being home for 12 hours, Earl knew something wasn’t right. They went back to the hospital where he was re-admitted and further tests were done. It was finally revealed that Earl was suffering from Meckel’s Diverticulum, a congenital outpouching or bulge in the lower part of the small intestine. While most born with this, will go their entire lives without symptoms, Earl’s situation became extremely serious when it was discovered that the Meckel’s had become tangled in his intestines. Earl was immediately scheduled for emergency surgery and 6 hours later, Sam was finally able to go and see him. They wound up taking 6 inches of his intestines as well as his appendix as he had also developed appendicitis, to top it all off.

As anyone who has ever met Earl can attest, the sun rises and sets on his family. When he’s not working, he’s home. Always. He might be showing his son Weston (8) the proper technique for whatever home improvement project that Sam has him working on, which he 100% learned from his father.

Or he might be in the middle of a dance off with his little princess Finley (5). He’s yet to win one!!

Or, most likely, he’s being yelled at by Sam for flirting with her in front of company. It’s a lose - lose battle as Earl couldn’t care less, as the love and affection he has for his wife is second to none.

Wellllllll, maybe second to his mother Verna. You see, Earl is a proud mama’s boy, just like myself. Verna, who dropped everything and got on the first flight to Sarasota when this all happened, is the textbook definition of a matriarch. Within five minutes of meeting Verna, you instantly understand where Earl’s passion for family and loyalty comes from.

It’s no wonder that the hardest part for Earl wasn’t the physical pain, rather, it was when the doctors advised him against lifting anything above 10 pounds for the next several weeks. That means for the first time in their lives, Weston and Finley won’t have daddy carrying them up the stairs to bed, a nightly routine that began when Earl was a young boy being carried himself.

As you can imagine, the cost of six total days spent in the hospital, an ambulance ride, scans, surgery, post-op treatment etc etc is well beyond what Sam and Earl could have ever imagined. To make matters more difficult, both Earl and Sam work independently and are not salaried employees. After this major surgery, Earl needs a few weeks to gain all of his strength back and receive a clean bill of health before he can head back to work. With Finley only being 5, Sam has to be home to take care of her to allow Earl rest.

I can give so many examples of times that the entire Woodruff family has been there for me personally and I’ve met so many others that can say the same. I can assure you that if this world had more fathers, husbands, sons and friends, like Earl and his entire family, it would be a much kinder one to live in.

I have asked Sam and Earl to allow me to create this fund for the family. The next several months are going to take a considerable amount of patience and optimism. Earl has been there for countless people throughout his life. It’s time to rally around him!

Warmest Regards,

Chris Riccio