My name is Sarah Daisa and I created this GoFundMe to help out my good friend Chris Kueneman. Chris had been experiencing back pain for about 6 weeks. One Friday morning in May, while working, running his route, he tapped his foot on the floor of the truck and felt some tingling on the bottom of his foot. Over the course of that weekend, the tingling, numbness, and movement got worse. By that Monday afternoon, Chris was only able to get around using a walker due to the numbness and pain.

He went in for an x-ray in Paso and his doctor told him that he could do an x-ray if Chris really wanted it, but the doctor recommended that he go to an ER immediately. Chris and his family are from Bakersfield but recently moved over to the coast for work and much cooler air. When his doctor in Paso told him to get to an ER immediately, he and his wife made the decision to come back to Bakersfield where they had family and friends. They quickly threw a few of their belongings together and headed to Bakersfield. By the time they reached the ER in Bakersfield, it took 2 nurses to get Chris out of the car.

He was rushed in for an emergency MRI and CT scan. The results of these tests showed a mass on his spine. Originally, doctors thought it was cancer, but thankfully it was not. However, the mass on his spine was full of staph infection. Doctors and Chris had no idea where this staph infection originated from because Chris had not had an injury or open wound in his back. Chris was rushed into emergency surgery to remove the mass/staph infection. Chris spent 4 days in the ICU and another 4 days in post-op.

The surgery left Chris without movement from the waist down, so he was transferred to Encompass Rehab where he stayed for 2 months trying to learn how to walk again. Chris was released from Encompass on July 5th. Chris went from zero feeling or movement in his legs and feet when he entered Encompass to being able to walk a short distance with assistance and a walker when he left.

Chris later found out that the original back pain was caused by nerve damage that had been caused by the infection, still no clue where that came from. The infection was not found in any other part of his body, but it had deteriorated the spine which caused the fracture. The fracture caused spinal compression and damage to the spinal cord resulting in paralysis. When Chris was in the hospital, he developed a substantial-sized blood clot in which he was placed on blood thinners to try to dissolve it.

Chris had a follow-up MRI and CT scan after being released from Encompass which revealed that the bone in the spine is still deteriorating because of the fracture. Chris needs another surgery to have a plate and screws placed in his back to help strengthen and straighten his spine, however, he has to be off blood thinners before that can happen. Chris has been going to intensive therapy in order to regain strength in his legs. He has a long road to recovery as well as an upcoming surgery to repair the fracture in his back.

Chris and Shelly are great, loving, Christ-centered people and could really use some help with the medical bills that are piling up. Chris and Shelly are not ones to ask for hand outs, so I am asking on their behalf for donations and prayer. If you are able to help out in any way, any amount is helpful.