My name is Christopher (Ryan) Zimlich I’m a single father of two wonderful girls and a construction worker.

It’s hard for me to ask for help, I’m the sort of person who believes in hard work, I usually keep my problems to my self and figure it out on my own. However I have reached a point of desperation. I have had no income since July and My kids and I are facing eviction and foreclosure for the manufactured home I purchased. I have fallen in to collections with the few creditors I have and have sought help from bankruptcy but I can’t even afford to pay the $1,900 to file.

I am hoping to raise $7,900 to help pay for my 3 months of past due mortgage and space rent and to help file Bankruptcy. I don’t like to ask for help and the thought of bankruptcy sickens me, but I’m a single father trying to keep a roof over the heads of my two daughters and I. Anything will help even just sharing this story in your network and a prayer for me and my kids as we face this difficult time. If you request I will make every effort to repay any donation when the case is finally settled or I can pay it forward to another person needing help.

In January 2023 I injured my knee at work. I reported the injury to my employer immediately and was seen at the urgent care clinic that my employer uses for work injuries. The urgent care clinic was not able to treat my injury and referred to see an orthopedic doctor. This referral took a long time and many phone calls and emails between myself and the workers compensation insurance company, finally after two months I was approved to see an orthopedic surgeon he placed me on light duty and referred me to get an MRI as there was a chunk of bone or cartridge floating around in my knee cap causing my knee to painfully lockup when ever I squat down. It took another 2 months for the insurance company to approve the MRI request and schedule it. After reviewing the Results from the MRI the doctor (who is a orthopedic surgeon with 39 years of experience and specializes in knee injuries) he recommended surgery to remove the chunk floating around in me knee cap. The insurance company swiftly denied the surgery. Another two months went by it was now June the worker’s compensation insurance company sent me back to urgent care to see a doctor who didn’t even examine me he just looked at the file and said “ I don’t think you got injured at work, so I’m not going to treat you, because who’s going to pay for it ?” I found out later this Doctor specializes in psychiatry.

So at that point I contacted an attorney. The insurance company denied any future benefits and even told me I needed to repay $3600 from the benefits they had paid me. My attorney tried to get me approved to see another doctor from the list provided by the worker’s compensation insurance company. It took months for them to approve the request and when I called to make the appointment I was told this doctor no longer treats worker comp cases and hasn’t in over 8 years. So the request process starts over again.

It’s now October and I still don’t have approval to be treated by a doctor. Attorneys says I’m in workers compensation limbo. Eventually every thing will will get taken care of but this is how the insurance company tries to make it so I give up and go back to work with an injury but it could take a long time. I have even reached out to the kitchen and bath Remodel company where I have worked for 8 years but they offered no help and gave me a deadline of October 31st to return to work un-injured and able to preform my usual heavy construction tasks that my job demands. Or they will consider it an abandonment of employment.

I pray that no one has to navigate the endless deadlock of dealing with a worker’s compensation insurance company. If you have then I’m sure you know how frustrating it can be.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Christopher (Ryan) Zimlich