Gaylynn Stroupe

Our nephew, Coy Johnson, is 20 years old and was serving a church mission in Boise, Idaho when he became very ill and had to be rushed home to Albuquerque in July for medical care. After 21 days of no diagnosis and his condition deteriorating to the point of being put on a ventilator in the ICU, he was air flighted to the University of Utah Hospital where he was diagnosed with Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO). NMO is an auto-immune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks the brain and brain stem causing nerve damage. This nerve damage caused him to lose sight in his left eye and the left side of his body to be paralyzed. It also caused the inability to swallow and the need to be fed by feeding tube. He is also still on the ventilator to help him breathe. Drug treatments and rehab are helping Coy to slowly recover to the point that the hospital feels that he will be discharged in the latter part of October to go home to Albuquerque. Coy and his parents, Kenneth and Julie, are in need of a wheelchair accessible vehicle for Coy to get home in and to be able to continue his treatments and rehab where his recovery will continue. These types of vans are expensive; in the range of $70,000- $100,000. Coy has a long road ahead of him with rehab, but is working so hard. Your donation toward this van would be so helpful in getting him to and from rehab, and into living life outside of the hospital again. Thank you so much for considering helping Coy recover with your donation.