Dan and Laurie Wilder Medical Fund

On 12/8/23, Dan had a fainting episode while working with his wife Laurie on one of their rental apartments. Dan collapse and fell onto Laurie as she tried to help him. The incident resulted in Laurie being crushed underneath him breaking her shoulder. Both Dan and Laurie ended up in the ER this day.

Dan has a genetic condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, where the muscle tissue in the heart becomes thickened resulting in the heart being less able to pump blood effectively to his brain and body.

After this accident, the surgeons in Seattle wanted to see him immediately because this condition is known to cause sudden death. This is what goes undiagnosed in young athletes like football players who suddenly collapse on the field and die.

Dan has been in the care of an excellent surgeon and team at Swedish Hospital in Seattle. He underwent a 6-hour surgery on 12/22 where they shaved off some of the thickened muscle and replaced his mitral valve with a mechanical one. He had an extended stay in the ICU due to heavy post op bleeding but got transferred to the cardiac floor on Christmas Day. He was discharged "home" to his daughters' house in Seattle on 12/29 where he has been staying to recover and regain strength. Laurie had to stay behind in Cut Bank due to her injury and her own recovery process.

Dan has a long road of recovery ahead of him and with several limitations in movement. He is making progress but it's been very slow especially because he was also diagnosed with RSV once he was at his daughters. This was a big setback but he is finally feeling better. Dan still has extremely low endurance, strength and a lot of sternal precautions.

We would like to ask for your help with any financial assistance you could give him to help ease his worries of living expenses for the next few months while he is unable to work. Dan is a valuable asset to our community so please help us get him back on his feet these next few months so he can bounce back.

Dan got the okay from his surgeon to return to Montana so he will be back Feb 1st where he will continue with cardiac rehab and returning to his wife and Montana life.