Benefit for Cheryl Kramer

Cheryl is a single mom and a corrections officer. She was formerly a business owner and hair stylist (or as we called her, “a hair-apist”) in Hamburg at Tresses and Just Teasin’. She is typically a high-energy grandma to three baby girls. She enjoys taking her 15-year-old son, Nicholas, fishing and kayaking at the Outer Harbor. Her 2 daughters, Chelsea and Hannah, are young mothers and are used to counting on her for support. When we recently moved things out of her garage, we found out just how active she really is! The boxing bag was in the way of the bikes and Tae Kwon Do equipment, and then we had to be careful not to trip over the snow shoes! But sadly, Cheryl’s active lifestyle has been put on hold.

 

Her health troubles started just before Christmas in December 2018 when she was rear-ended on her way to work. Her back was fractured and she suffered 10 herniated discs. The severity of her injuries led to the diagnosis of Ehler’s Danlos syndrome which causes her joints and connective tissues to be hyper-mobile. This causes her to be in a lot of pain. She was also diagnosed with autoimmune thyroid disease in this time frame.

 

She struggles daily with fatigue, napping after washing a few dishes. She battles insomnia, depression and anxiety from all the challenges that she has to cope with.

 

She has not been able to work since the accident and is now recovering from the double mastectomy. She is having trouble managing her medical and household bills.