Blenda's Fight

If you ask anyone that has had the pleasure of meeting my Uncle Mark & Aunt Blenda, then they will tell you that this couple is the definition of cool.  Aunt Blenda is well educated, self-employed mental health and marriage/family counselor and Uncle Mark, also well-educated and self-employed, uses his talents to teach guitar & tutor high school and college math & physics students from their home.  Together, they became an integral part of the community. They met at a martial arts class in 1991, so it’s only fitting that they created Armed Citizens of Georgia Firearms Training where they have completed pretty much every NRA Instructor & Tactical Certification you can receive in order to educate and train others on proper gun handling, self-defense and legal rights.

Blenda is a vivacious woman with a heart of gold. She truly cares about others and does not hesitate to lend an ear. Blenda is every bit of a warrior princess, a girlie girl with grit. She is definitely one of a kind.

Unfortunately, Aunt Blenda has been in and out of a medically induced coma since December 2017 and is fighting for her life.

Because they are self-employed, the medical bills stacking up are becoming devastating. They have incurred bills for hospitals and doctors of approximately $1.5 million, which insurance will only partially cover. At one facility where Blenda was for many weeks, the room rate was $23,000 per day. 

Blenda has battled auto-immune Hepatitis for decades but has never had to be hospitalized for this disease until now.  Upon her initial stay, she was diagnosed with 2 serious strains of pneumonia and placed in a medically induced coma in order to incur aggressive treatment. She contracted other inflections after that, one even from the strong antibiotics. Aunt Blenda was basically paralyzed after coming out of the first coma; she was unable to speak except with a voice adapter and continued to swell and retain fluid. However, as time went on, we thought things looked better. But just when we thought things were good, they weren’t. Now we are hoping and praying that she will come out of this. 

Since the initial hospital visit, Aunt Blenda has been transferred by ambulance 6 times between facilities, all which have created some issues in her healing process. She was placed back into a medically induced coma in March in order to administer IVs, drain fluids, and place a breathing tube. The last few months have been a roller coaster- Uncle Mark gets the news she is better enough to be transferred to a different facility or room, only to get a call merely days, sometimes hours later that she has taken another turn for the worse.

Aunt Blenda’s health isn’t just affecting our family, but also all the other people these two help, train, teach, and defend on a daily basis. Uncle Mark has been by Aunt Blenda’s side nonstop but has recently had to try schedule students and firearms classes in order to have some kind of income. Uncle Mark just wants to bring his wife home. We are hoping Aunt Blenda’s strength and courage will let her fight through this, but the financial burden will be there for a long time to come.

These are the people you want to help save your life. Now we need your help saving theirs. This is not easy for them as they have never asked for help, so our family is reaching out.

If you feel compelled, please make any size donation to help both of them during this very difficult time.

From the bottom of our family’s heart, we sincerely appreciate your graciousness and generosity.