URGENT: Bring Patty Home After Tragic Accident Overseas!
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Help Us Bring Our Mom HOME After a Tragic Accident Abroad!
As close friends of Sara and Daren, we’ve created this GoFundMe to support them during this unimaginable time. Sara and Daren are working tirelessly to care for their mom and bring her home after a devastating accident abroad. With all their focus on Patricia’s care and recovery, we’re stepping in to share their story and ask for the support they urgently need right now.
Patty was setting out on what was meant to be the trip of a lifetime- heading to Amsterdam to see the tulips and museums and then off to a cruise out of Budapest. In one of her very first days, everything changed. While walking to the restroom in a restaurant, Patricia fell down an unmarked step and hit her head on a door, fracturing 2 vertebrae in her neck. That one moment resulted in a devastating spinal injury that left her paralyzed from the waist down with limited mobility in her upper body. Since that day, their lives have changed unimaginably.
Sara and Daren are doing everything in their power to support their mom and bring her home. If you don't know them, Sara lives in San Diego, and Daren is in Portland. Both are dedicated educators and parents, and when they got the devastating call about their mom’s injury, they immediately put their lives on hold to be by her side. Since then, they’ve been navigating an incredibly complex and emotional journey — traveling across the world, coordinating care across time zones, and managing nonstop logistical changes. Nothing could have prepared them for the intensity of navigating this overseas medical crisis. From last-minute flights to unclear medical approvals and rapidly shifting information, every step has been a challenge. And all the while, they are trying to juggle their responsibilities at home — caring for their young children and staying connected to their jobs and communities.
This has been a deeply overwhelming experience, emotionally and financially. But through it all, Sara and Daren have never stopped advocating for their mom. Now, they need help — from all of us — to keep going and get Patty home.
Since the accident, they’ve encountered overwhelming obstacles:
- Contradictory medical updates: We’ve received conflicting information from overseas doctors, making planning incredibly difficult.
- Medical transport companies have required large wire transfers just to reserve a spot — then canceled or changed terms at the last minute, demanding even more money.
- Airlines have canceled flights or refused medical approval without consistent reasoning, often after funds were already paid and arrangements made.
- They’ve reached out to the U.S. Consulate and congressional offices, but so far have only received generic responses and limited direct support, leaving us to navigate this incredibly complex situation largely on their own.
- Their mother’s U.S.-based insurance is not accepted in the Netherlands, and medical bills are mounting by the day.
- Emotional Trauma: She’s experiencing intense emotional distress and hopelessness, compounded by a lack of proper psychological and medication support following the news that she may never walk again.
Daren and Sara are constantly booking and rebooking flights, hotels, medical services, and transportation — and often losing deposits and money when those plans fall through.
Pat is still awaiting transportation from the Netherlands to San Diego. All she wants — all her children want — is to bring her home, where she can be surrounded by loved ones and begin the next phase of care under her insurance coverage.
This GoFundMe was created out of sheer necessity. Daren and Sara simply cannot do this alone anymore. Every donation will go directly towards:
- A medically supported flight home
- The mounting international medical bills
- Travel and accommodation for Daren & Sara as they continue to manage this crisis
- Ensuring Patty has the care and comfort she needs to survive and begin healing
- Any ongoing medical needs and nursing care, which will be essential to support her recovery and quality of life once she is back in the US
If you or someone you know has experience with medical transport, international legal issues and overseas care -- or know someone who does -- any advice or connections would mean so much to the family.
Please keep Patty in your thoughts as we all fight to get her home.
With love and gratitude (on behalf of her children),
Sara & Daren
Co-organizers (3)
Carolyn Nunziato
Organizer
San Marcos, CA
Sara Gillette
Co-organizer
Tim Ambrose
Co-organizer