Angels for Ivan (Angeles para Ivan)

In a horrific explosion in January 2018, life changed dramatically for one loving and happy family.  Ivan Ayala suffered third degree burns on 60% of his body. He spent 7 1/2 months fighting for his life in the Intensive Care Unit/Burn Unit, and his wife took a leave of absence from work so that she could be at his side day and night through 27 reconstructive surgeries, skin grafts and subsequent blindness in one eye, limited vision in the other and the amputation of his right leg above the knee. Please consider becoming an ‘angel for Ivan’ and for his wife and two daughters as he continues his long road to recovery.  Please read below for the whole story: 

At the beginning of 2018, Ivan was celebrating the start of the new year with his beautiful wife and two teenaged daughters... an incredibly hard working man, who loved God and took pride in taking care of his family. Admired by others for his easy smile and calm nature, he enjoyed relaxing with his family and friends, making them laugh, and singing and dancing with them at parties.
A few short weeks later, his life was changed in a horrific explosion late January 2018. 
In the explosion, Ivan suffered third degree burns on 60% of his body. He spent 7 1/2 months in the Intensive Care Unit/Burn Unit, fighting for his life, all the while enduring 27 reconstructive surgeries and skin grafts. Each surgery felt like both a step forward in his healing process but also put tremendous stress on his system and several times it took hours, if not days, to stabilize him again after surgery. Over the following months, subsequent complications included blindness in his left eye and very little visibility in his right eye, amputation of three toes and a portion of his left heel, and the surprising and heartbreaking loss of his right lower leg amputated above the knee. He is currently in need of a cornea transplant and a prosthetic. There are areas on his scalp where the skin is still healing and all of his skin remains extremely sensitive due to the transplants. 
After being released from the hospital, he spent two weeks in a rehabilitation center before finally returning home in August.
His wife Jasmin had spent every day and night with him at the hospital and rehab center, with rotating family members bringing their daughters daily to spend hours with their parents. Now that the family is fully reunited in their home, Ivan continues to struggle with the healing of his skin, adapting to daily activities without his right leg, and most of all the loss of his vision. All he wants to do is to again provide for his family as he loved taking care of them.  He is trying to maintain a positive outlook and look to the future with his wife, daughters, family and friends, but it is a long and hard road ahead. He has yet to receive any amount of financial compensation or any income since his accident and the family is doing its best to pay the bills, now including expensive medication copays, so that they can keep their home and provide Ivan with what he needs to continue to heal and recover.

Please Note: All donations received here are so deeply appreciated by Ivan and his family, as well as those of us in his extended family.  Any donations received are being transferred to the family’s account, and to make it easier on Ivan and Jasmin as they balance out doctor appointments, physical rehabilitation and transportation in the colder weather, Jasmin’s sister Alejandra Esqueda Hernandez is listed as an approved beneficiary who is trusted to withdraw the funds and immediately deliver the money to the family.