Help Steve Smile Again: Dental Surgery Fund

My name is Stacy Sneed (aka Miss Stacy to my dance family), and this is a picture of my younger brother, Steve, on the day he was discharged from the hospital last year. He's smiling because he survived. But he's smiling with his mouth closed. In his mid-twenties, he was deeply depressed and decided he wasn't going to live much longer (because he didn't care to live anymore), so he quit taking care of himself completely. As a result, his teeth started to decay. In April of 2024, he developed a rare and life-threatening form of cellulitis called Ludwig's Angina. It's a bacterial infection of the mouth and throat, caused by severe tooth decay, which led to sepsis. He was placed in a medically induced coma for 3 days, had 2 emergency surgeries to drain sublingual and submental abscesses, and had 6 teeth removed on an emergent basis. He was told he needed to have all of his remaining teeth extracted within 3 months to avoid additional infections and complications. Shortly after, our mom passed away, and Steve's dental health became an afterthought.

Unfortunately, Steve is uninsured. He was supposed to have his teeth removed and dentures placed a year ago, but life, and the death of our beloved mom, got in the way. But I could hear mom whispering in my ear to "take care of this before he got sick again." After taking Steve to consultations, we were told we'd need about $17,000 to keep him healthy. He needs to have all of his remaining teeth removed and dentures placed. My mom raised us to take care of business; she never asked for help. But we desperately need help from our friends. If you're able to help in any way, our family would be forever grateful.