Help Julie Quad Amputee Recovery
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Our Beloved Julie was shot during an attempted robbery on August 11th, 2015 at a Derby AT&T phone store. She sustained multiple gunshot wounds to her right lung and right forearm. She underwent emergency surgery to repair the lung injury, which ultimately required removal 2/3 of her right lung. Since the shooting she has been on a ventilator, which has been assisting her breathing as her lung injury heals. Additionally, as a consequence of the massive blood loss and hypotension due to the shooting she experienced severe and prolonged ischemia to her kidneys and upper and lower extremities. She has been on intermittent dialysis for more than 6 weeks. Due to the oxygen deprivation to her hands and feet they slowly and progressively became necrotic (died) over a 3-week period. Everything medically possible was done to try and save them but eventually she required quadruple-limb amputation of her hands and feet.
Related Press:
· Local Veteran Amputee Helps Julie
· Julie's students speak out
· Julie Dombo 4mi Run/Walk Strides Against Gun violence
· Julie Dombo Blood Drive
· Julie's Story
We are anticipating the mounting costs required for her forthcoming recovery and would ask your help in offsetting those costs. Due to the level of Julie’s amputations we have found that it is necessary to raise our GoFundMe goal. Your donations will enable Julie’s husband John and daughter Aimee to do the following:
· Maintaining an excellent level of care for Julie as she enters recovery and eventually rehabilitation.
· Improving her quality of life during her time in hospital and as she re-enters and its challenges the world as a quadruple amputee.
· Offsetting the loss of income for Julie along with her husband and her daughter (her 24/7 caretakers) during this difficult time.
Julie’s Story
On Tuesday August 11th, exactly 3 days before her 39th wedding anniversary, our beloved Julie; wife, mother, and middle school counselor was horrifically shot multiple times during an attempted robbery at an AT&T store in our hometown of Derby, KS. She refused to let herself and the other people in the store go into a back room for fear that they would never leave it alive. She sustained multiple gunshot wounds to her right lung and right forearm and and had all 4 limbs amputated. Through Julie’s actions no one else was injured.
Immediately following the unprovoked shooting, a woman from a neighboring store in the strip mall was alerted and found Julie shot and alone. Julie was never one to let her friends be alone. She has always been there to listen to her family and friends when they are feeling troubled. The woman who held Julie as she was dying on the floor in the store that day is a reflection of the kind of compassion that Julie has spent a lifetime demonstrating to others.
Julie told the woman who held her “I don’t want to die.”
She was taken to the emergency room in Wichita where she was briefly conscious and reiterated to her husband in the ER “I don’t want to die.”
Upon her admission to the hospital she underwent emergency surgery to repair the lung injury, which ultimately required removal of 2/3 of her right lung. Since the shooting she has been on a ventilator, which has been assisting her breathing as her lung injury heals. Additionally, as a consequence of the massive blood loss and hypotension due to the shooting she experienced severe and prolonged ischemia to her kidneys and upper and lower extremities. She has been on intermittent dialysis since shortly after the emergency lung repair.
Due to the oxygen deprivation to her hands and feet they slowly and progressively became necrotic (died) over a 3-week period. Everything medically possible was done to try and save them but eventually she required 4-limb amputation. On 9/8/15 her right hand was amputated at the distal forearm and the left hand was amputated at the mid forearm level. On 9/10/15 she underwent bilateral below the knee amputations at approximately the mid-calf level. She is stable at this time and is still receiving intermittent dialysis and is slowly being weaned off the ventilator. She is currently being fitted for upper extremity prosthesis and will be fitted in 3 to 4 weeks with her lower extremity prosthesis.
We have been humbled and amazed at her undefeatable spirit and determination. Despite the unbelievable physical and emotional pain and suffering Julie has endured on a daily basis since the shooting, and the tremendous effort it takes just to move and learn to breath on her own again, she has retained her sense of humor and the caring for others that she has displayed her entire life.
Julie still can’t speak because of the ventilator but through her kind, expressive eyes, beautiful smile and occasional “what the hell smirk” she lets us all know she is ready to move forward with all the thunder and determinations she can bring. She is Wichita’s own Wonder Woman. And we are all blessed to have this Wonder-full woman in our lives.
Before the incident Julie was an avid race walker who frequently walked 4 miles a day. For Julie, keeping her body in shape was the same as keeping her soul in shape. She enjoys her gym buddies, weight lifting, watering her plants, and visiting with friends. Julie was a school counselor for nearly 25 years who loved her students so much that she often told us she just wanted to bring them home with her. Julie’s own daughter is adopted. When she retired last year she decided to go back to the same school and work part time to help the truant kids to stay in school.
Julie is an animal lover, especially of fuzzy cats and cute little critters – possibly part of her upbringing on a farm. Julie’s love for life and her curiosity to see the world has taken her to many faraway places. Last year she visited Rome with her sisters and was blessed by Pope Francisco. She enjoys planning get-togethers where she would connect with friends and was continuously building relationships with others.
The medical staff has told us that Julie’s road to recovery will be a marathon, not a sprint. Her determination to live is what keeps us going after such long hours in the hospital. We take turns sleeping at the hospital with her. She can’t do anything by herself including rubbing her eyes when she cries. Before the amputations we were taking turns warming her blue hands. We had no idea that she would go to loose all of them and the gift of touch along with it.
The doctors say that she was in peak health before the attack, and that is why she lived. The hospital staff is rooting for her. The special care that they are giving her resonates on the entire floor of the hospital.
With Julie we are taking everything minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, and day-by-day; appreciating every single step forward. The road to recovery will be long. She is a fighter and we know that she will work very hard. First she will need to learn to breath on her own order to be released to rehab. She will then need to learn to walk and hold things again with the help of prosthetics. Julie will need to learn to dress herself, feed herself, and learn how to go to the bathroom.
We are posting Julie’s story in the hopes that it will touch the lives of others. The body of love that Julie has extended to those around her is now coming back to her and her family. It is so overwhelming and lovely that we hope to create a place on this GoFundMe account where family, friends, and acquaintances can post and receive updates from us. This is a home base where for some who live too far away to help with cooking and cleaning can contribute to her recovery when she is awake and rebuilding her body and her life.
Julie wants to live, and is getting better every day.
Your donations to this GoFundMe can help us maintain an excellent level of care for her as she endures the surgeries and procedures required for her full recovery. We will use Julie’s fund to pay for any of her medical and emotional needs when she is in the rehab facility and while recovering at home.
We will update you as much as possible on the progress that Julie is making. Thank you all so much for your love. The compassion you are showing us will make Julie smile. Thank you for you love and affection.
Related Press:
· Local Veteran Amputee Helps Julie
· Julie's students speak out
· Julie Dombo 4mi Run/Walk Strides Against Gun violence
· Julie Dombo Blood Drive
· Julie's Story
We are anticipating the mounting costs required for her forthcoming recovery and would ask your help in offsetting those costs. Due to the level of Julie’s amputations we have found that it is necessary to raise our GoFundMe goal. Your donations will enable Julie’s husband John and daughter Aimee to do the following:
· Maintaining an excellent level of care for Julie as she enters recovery and eventually rehabilitation.
· Improving her quality of life during her time in hospital and as she re-enters and its challenges the world as a quadruple amputee.
· Offsetting the loss of income for Julie along with her husband and her daughter (her 24/7 caretakers) during this difficult time.
Julie’s Story
On Tuesday August 11th, exactly 3 days before her 39th wedding anniversary, our beloved Julie; wife, mother, and middle school counselor was horrifically shot multiple times during an attempted robbery at an AT&T store in our hometown of Derby, KS. She refused to let herself and the other people in the store go into a back room for fear that they would never leave it alive. She sustained multiple gunshot wounds to her right lung and right forearm and and had all 4 limbs amputated. Through Julie’s actions no one else was injured.
Immediately following the unprovoked shooting, a woman from a neighboring store in the strip mall was alerted and found Julie shot and alone. Julie was never one to let her friends be alone. She has always been there to listen to her family and friends when they are feeling troubled. The woman who held Julie as she was dying on the floor in the store that day is a reflection of the kind of compassion that Julie has spent a lifetime demonstrating to others.
Julie told the woman who held her “I don’t want to die.”
She was taken to the emergency room in Wichita where she was briefly conscious and reiterated to her husband in the ER “I don’t want to die.”
Upon her admission to the hospital she underwent emergency surgery to repair the lung injury, which ultimately required removal of 2/3 of her right lung. Since the shooting she has been on a ventilator, which has been assisting her breathing as her lung injury heals. Additionally, as a consequence of the massive blood loss and hypotension due to the shooting she experienced severe and prolonged ischemia to her kidneys and upper and lower extremities. She has been on intermittent dialysis since shortly after the emergency lung repair.
Due to the oxygen deprivation to her hands and feet they slowly and progressively became necrotic (died) over a 3-week period. Everything medically possible was done to try and save them but eventually she required 4-limb amputation. On 9/8/15 her right hand was amputated at the distal forearm and the left hand was amputated at the mid forearm level. On 9/10/15 she underwent bilateral below the knee amputations at approximately the mid-calf level. She is stable at this time and is still receiving intermittent dialysis and is slowly being weaned off the ventilator. She is currently being fitted for upper extremity prosthesis and will be fitted in 3 to 4 weeks with her lower extremity prosthesis.
We have been humbled and amazed at her undefeatable spirit and determination. Despite the unbelievable physical and emotional pain and suffering Julie has endured on a daily basis since the shooting, and the tremendous effort it takes just to move and learn to breath on her own again, she has retained her sense of humor and the caring for others that she has displayed her entire life.
Julie still can’t speak because of the ventilator but through her kind, expressive eyes, beautiful smile and occasional “what the hell smirk” she lets us all know she is ready to move forward with all the thunder and determinations she can bring. She is Wichita’s own Wonder Woman. And we are all blessed to have this Wonder-full woman in our lives.
Before the incident Julie was an avid race walker who frequently walked 4 miles a day. For Julie, keeping her body in shape was the same as keeping her soul in shape. She enjoys her gym buddies, weight lifting, watering her plants, and visiting with friends. Julie was a school counselor for nearly 25 years who loved her students so much that she often told us she just wanted to bring them home with her. Julie’s own daughter is adopted. When she retired last year she decided to go back to the same school and work part time to help the truant kids to stay in school.
Julie is an animal lover, especially of fuzzy cats and cute little critters – possibly part of her upbringing on a farm. Julie’s love for life and her curiosity to see the world has taken her to many faraway places. Last year she visited Rome with her sisters and was blessed by Pope Francisco. She enjoys planning get-togethers where she would connect with friends and was continuously building relationships with others.
The medical staff has told us that Julie’s road to recovery will be a marathon, not a sprint. Her determination to live is what keeps us going after such long hours in the hospital. We take turns sleeping at the hospital with her. She can’t do anything by herself including rubbing her eyes when she cries. Before the amputations we were taking turns warming her blue hands. We had no idea that she would go to loose all of them and the gift of touch along with it.
The doctors say that she was in peak health before the attack, and that is why she lived. The hospital staff is rooting for her. The special care that they are giving her resonates on the entire floor of the hospital.
With Julie we are taking everything minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, and day-by-day; appreciating every single step forward. The road to recovery will be long. She is a fighter and we know that she will work very hard. First she will need to learn to breath on her own order to be released to rehab. She will then need to learn to walk and hold things again with the help of prosthetics. Julie will need to learn to dress herself, feed herself, and learn how to go to the bathroom.
We are posting Julie’s story in the hopes that it will touch the lives of others. The body of love that Julie has extended to those around her is now coming back to her and her family. It is so overwhelming and lovely that we hope to create a place on this GoFundMe account where family, friends, and acquaintances can post and receive updates from us. This is a home base where for some who live too far away to help with cooking and cleaning can contribute to her recovery when she is awake and rebuilding her body and her life.
Julie wants to live, and is getting better every day.
Your donations to this GoFundMe can help us maintain an excellent level of care for her as she endures the surgeries and procedures required for her full recovery. We will use Julie’s fund to pay for any of her medical and emotional needs when she is in the rehab facility and while recovering at home.
We will update you as much as possible on the progress that Julie is making. Thank you all so much for your love. The compassion you are showing us will make Julie smile. Thank you for you love and affection.
Organizer
Aimée Bernadette
Organizer
Wichita, KS