Help the Bradshaws

Hi, everyone. Emily Brewer here, putting on my deacon hat. I'm inviting you to contribute to a fund to float the Bradshaw Family through a period of extraordinary bad luck, bad timing, and need. This sweet family needs help until Mary Ann can resume work.

I have this memory from three years ago. Stephanie Ford had shared with the congregation that Tim had been significantly injured after falling from a ladder while trying to help a friend. He required surgery and caretaking, and Mary Ann was needing to take time off work and help the kids and keep the household running.  At the end of the service, I was seated in my pew and watched as Anne Winfield quietly hustled over to Mary Ann, reached into her purse, and, with checkbook in hand, said, in her direct and sweet Kinston-tinged southern accent, "Mary Ann, tell me what you need." When Mary Ann flushed, in pride and gratitude, Anne pressed on: "Mary Ann, tell me what you need."

 

The injury Tim sustained at that time necessitated a series of surgeries and long periods of hampered mobility that have long impacted his earning ability. So these past three years have had their challenges. Then, just a few weeks ago, in a year that has been challenging for all of us, he had to get heel surgery on his other foot. After returning home from that surgery, he had an unfortunate fall that early x-rays suggest has caused some damage. He'll get more x-rays after Christmas. As my dad would say, "If it weren't for bad luck, he'd have no luck at all."

Given a history of slow wound-healing, Tim is getting his quarterly series of hyberbaric oxygen therapy treatments (which he gets for his history of Traumatic Brain Injuries) next week--earlier than usual--in the hopes of helping with the healing heel. His post-surgery fall has certainly extended his period of non-weight-bearing and will delay his return to work, exacerbating an already difficult situation.

 

Meanwhile, Mary Ann, who has been one of our frontline workers during the pandemic as a social worker at UNC Hospital, has had to temporarily step away from her job to tend to her heart. She got a heart ablation in November, but it was only partially successful, and she is to be re-evaluated on Jan. 3 for a possible second ablation. Her doctor wanted her home and resting until February, but, in another incredibly cruel stroke of bad fortune, she just learned that she is ineligible for the Short Term Disability pay she had been counting on. I myself had helped a number of UNC employees to donate Paid Time Off to Mary Ann, and it's heartbreaking to learn that those donations can only be applied through Nov. 29 and not beyond. Furthermore, the Hospital is requiring Mary Ann to return to her job on Jan. 3 or risk losing it. Yes, this is the very day of her cardiac follow-up. She has few avenues to pursue now. She is going to try to lobby to get some ADA accommodations to reduce the number of hours she's expected to work.

 

If Anne Winfield were still here, I know she'd be calling Mary Ann and asking what she needs. Our beloved Anne is gone, but I'm hoping that, as a community, we can marshal that same spirit of loving, caring, and kindness and help this sweet family of four.

 

A few donations the Bradshaws received in early December from Binkleyites, and a few grocery cards from members of the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Mothers Club, helped feed them the first half of the month and prepare for Christmas. Some former church friends from their former home in Smithfield also covered the HBOT treatments Tim will get this coming week. They've tapped out every other resource. Now they need help buying food, gas, and supplies and covering some bills until Mary Ann's full-time paychecks resume.

 

Thank you for reading this story and considering how you might help. Merry Christmas!

Note: the beneficiary listed below is Sandi Brady: Mary Ann's long-time friend and aunt to the kids; she is helping until Mary Ann can get her digital banking set up.