My dad’s medical care
Donation protected
I am one of Jim's other daughters, Krista, and am helping Morgan organize this fund. I just thought I would give a little bit of background as to who you are donating to.
My Dad was hit in a head-on collision by a drunk driver in 1981. He had 9 surgeries while in hospital, with a total of 13 surgeries immediately following. He was in a coma for 6 weeks and not expected to live or wake up.
He suffered a lacerated forehead with frontal lobe injury, a subdural hematoma, and a bolt put in to relieve pressure around his brain. Unfortunately, the fluid never went away and resulted in him developing seizures and severe short-term memory loss due to his brain damage.
He had a large laceration under left arm. Doctors wanted to amputate due to infection but were able to eventually heal the infection. His right elbow was shattered and fused in place permanently. He is unable to brush hair, teeth, or eat with his dominant hand. His left femur was missing 4 inches of bone so they used cadaver bone to replace. His tibia and fibula were completely shattered in both legs. Large skin grafts were placed on both right and left lower legs. His feet bones were shattered and fused improperly. Resulted in Drop foot and severe pain from bone positioning, which causes him to fall frequently. He has diminished vascularization in both feet (venous ulcers are now resulting due to this getting worse) He has had multiple Achilles' tendon lengthening procedures over the years, and multiple concussions due to frequent falls.
Before the accident, my Dad worked for the railroad doing manual labor. He was not thought to live or ever walk again and yet he defied the odds. He went on to have 4 children and was able to find work in a file room for an oil and gas company. Incredibly he was able to hold this job for over 30 years, in part, I believe this is due to some wonderful people recognizing how special my Dad is. He has always lived paycheck to paycheck but we always had a roof over our head and food on the table. He has never hesitated to help others. I grew up with him taking my sister and I to nursing homes and visiting with the elderly and constantly coming up with kind things he could do for others. Despite all his disabilities, he is such an admirable man.
He was laid off from his job last year. Thankfully
we have finally been able to secure disability income for him, but unfortunately, this has made him ineligible for Medicaid. Due to all his medical conditions, his bills have always been quite staggering. Without good coverage right now we are very concerned about how his medical bills are adding up. We are hoping he can just make ends meet until he is eligible for Medicare but due to the waiting period imposed on people with disabilities, he will not be eligible for that until March of 2020.
I hope this touches some peoples hearts and please know how grateful his family is to any of you who feel moved to donate. I was not surprised at all when Morgan posted what a sweet small thing he did for her. It is part of who he is and we are so lucky to have him in our lives. We know this is something he would never ask for himself, but there is no one I know more deserving.
God bless you all.
My Dad was hit in a head-on collision by a drunk driver in 1981. He had 9 surgeries while in hospital, with a total of 13 surgeries immediately following. He was in a coma for 6 weeks and not expected to live or wake up.
He suffered a lacerated forehead with frontal lobe injury, a subdural hematoma, and a bolt put in to relieve pressure around his brain. Unfortunately, the fluid never went away and resulted in him developing seizures and severe short-term memory loss due to his brain damage.
He had a large laceration under left arm. Doctors wanted to amputate due to infection but were able to eventually heal the infection. His right elbow was shattered and fused in place permanently. He is unable to brush hair, teeth, or eat with his dominant hand. His left femur was missing 4 inches of bone so they used cadaver bone to replace. His tibia and fibula were completely shattered in both legs. Large skin grafts were placed on both right and left lower legs. His feet bones were shattered and fused improperly. Resulted in Drop foot and severe pain from bone positioning, which causes him to fall frequently. He has diminished vascularization in both feet (venous ulcers are now resulting due to this getting worse) He has had multiple Achilles' tendon lengthening procedures over the years, and multiple concussions due to frequent falls.
Before the accident, my Dad worked for the railroad doing manual labor. He was not thought to live or ever walk again and yet he defied the odds. He went on to have 4 children and was able to find work in a file room for an oil and gas company. Incredibly he was able to hold this job for over 30 years, in part, I believe this is due to some wonderful people recognizing how special my Dad is. He has always lived paycheck to paycheck but we always had a roof over our head and food on the table. He has never hesitated to help others. I grew up with him taking my sister and I to nursing homes and visiting with the elderly and constantly coming up with kind things he could do for others. Despite all his disabilities, he is such an admirable man.
He was laid off from his job last year. Thankfully
we have finally been able to secure disability income for him, but unfortunately, this has made him ineligible for Medicaid. Due to all his medical conditions, his bills have always been quite staggering. Without good coverage right now we are very concerned about how his medical bills are adding up. We are hoping he can just make ends meet until he is eligible for Medicare but due to the waiting period imposed on people with disabilities, he will not be eligible for that until March of 2020.
I hope this touches some peoples hearts and please know how grateful his family is to any of you who feel moved to donate. I was not surprised at all when Morgan posted what a sweet small thing he did for her. It is part of who he is and we are so lucky to have him in our lives. We know this is something he would never ask for himself, but there is no one I know more deserving.
God bless you all.
Organizer and beneficiary
Krista Erbe
Organizer
Fort Worth, TX
Krista Erbe
Beneficiary