Mary Beth's Get Through It Fund

                   THE READER's DIGEST VERSION
    Mary Beth Brazell was rear-ended while stopped at a stop sign by a 17-year-old kid while he accelerated to merge on a parkway.  Surgeries have been ineffective.  She is in constant pain in her back and suffers nerve damage pain in her leg.  Not being able to return to work, endless on-going battles with insurance companies, Workmen's Comp,  the Federal Government and the legal system, she is more than just financially devastated.  gofundme is her last resort to try to get her life back in order.  Please help her!  Mary is a great person and is very deserving of a better life, and your help will be so greatly appreciated.

               AND NOW THE REST OF THE STORY
     Three years ago, Mary Beth had everything she wanted in life.  She had her dream job as a National Park Ranger.  The job utilized her history degree from Michigan Sate University and her love and knowledge of nature and the great outdoors.  She did three six month temporary seasonal assignments at Theodore Roosevelt National Park and at Rock Creek Park in Washington D.C. for four years before finally obtaining a full-time position as a Park Ranger at Rock Creek Park.  Mary flourished in her job and loved it.  Through her own initiative, she developed unique and award winning videos, websites and interpretive programs and media for the National Park Services.  Numerous Junior Ranger Programs that she created at both parks for kids and students earned her several awards, recognition and promotions.  Mary was a "rising star" with the National Park Service.
     Making things even better,  she was engaged to be maried and looking forward to her life-long dream of starting a family and becoming a mother.
     Then on that fateful day in May of 2012, all of her dreams became a nightmare.  Mary was on government time, driving   government vehicle on Parkland, when she was hit from behind by a car going over the speed limit by a teenager running late for a party while driving his father's Lexus.
       And ever since, her perfect life has been Hell!
      Two six hour back surgeries later, rest and intermittent therapy (intermittent because Workmen's Comp, the insurance company and the Federal Government can not agree on who should pay for it) and still no relief from the pain.  Mary can not stand for more than 15 minutes or sit for more than 30 minutes until the pain is so great that she has to lay down.
     The list of drugs, pain pills and patches that she has been using is endless and still do not give the relief she needs to function and the side effects of all the opiates are creating problems of their own.  On a good day, the pain going down her leg feels like a bee sting, while on a bad day, it is as if someone is constantly stabbing her with  an ice pick!  The chronic pain is constant, varying in degree with the weather.
     Mary is the victim of government bureaucracy, the legal system and insurance companies.  They are constantly not paying for things that they should, changing the minimal amount of compensation she is receiving and dictating unreasonable requests.
      While waiting for a potential settlement from the court case that is pending, but has lingered on far too long, (as no one other than Mary has any desire to bring this to a conclusion)  Workmen's Comp has been paying her $1,600 a month which barely covers her co-pays for prescriptions that are over $1,200 a month.  To add insult to injury (no bad pun intended), Workmen's Comp has just notified her that after doing an audit, she has been over payed and needs to refund $4,000.  Needless to say, her financial situation is dire.
    Obviously, trying to survive on less than $400 a month is not possible.
     In order to meet living expenses, Mary has exhausted her savings, maxed out all of  her credit cards, borrowed and been gifted well over $100,000 from family members (tapping them all out now) and even borrowed
$30,000 from a loan shark at 28 % interest.
    Once her credit rating went down to rock bottom, homeowners and car insurance tripled and quadrupled respectively.  Not able to even afford the insurance, she stopped payment on her vehicle and it has been repossessed.
     Her husband, Johnny is unable to work as his glaucoma prevents him from driving and working at night and taking care of Mary and the house during the day is pretty much a full-time job in itself.
     Even if she were to get a substantial settlement, which she definitely deserves, after attorney fees (1/3 plus expenses) Workmen's Comp has a lien against the settlement for over $300,000 to recoup surgeries and medical expenses that they payed for, and trying to pay off her debtors, she will be left with very little, if anything, to proceed on for the rest of her life.
      My heart bleeds and I pray every night for my daughter and I ask that you pray for her too.
      Hopefully, through the power of the internet, facebook and gofundme, we can get Mary's story out to all parts of the country and donations will come to help her through these dificult times.  Please share this story with your facebook friends and ask thm to do the same, it could really make a difference in helping a young married couple that are really being tested to just get by.
     While Mary has not given up, she has come to the realization that, like doctors are telling her, she might never work again as a ParkRanger.  Her long term goal now, when her health improves enough, is to become a college history teacher.  She would need to get a Master's degree to achieve this goal.  Part of the funding that she might recieve through gofundme would go towards paying her tuition, so that she can hopefully get a degree on-line that will help her get her self respect back and give her life new purpose.
      Thre are many other details that make the story even sader and her plight even graver, but Mary (for privacy and self respect reasons) did not want me sharing with the world.
     Before the accident, Mary was an active golfer, tennis player, birder and hiker.  Now of course and in the future...NOT!  I am calling on all golfers, tennis players, birders and hikers as well as Dearbon HIgh School and Michigan State University students and graduates as well as National Park employees, who may feel an extra sympathy and connection with Mary's sad situation to donate and share this with the like.  Also, those that have ben wronged by insurance companies, Workmen's Comp and the legal system, please do the same!
      I sincerely thank you for helping out in any way that you can, including prayers.  Again, please share this and encourage others to do the same
     Respectfully submitted by R. Kevin Brazell