Fritz & Ellen Need Your Help
Donation protected
"Need a hand, Pop?" I'd say. "Nah, I got it." was the response my whole life. Same with with my, Ma. Never needed a hand with anything, never would ask for it if she did (This once included moving an entire living room set to the basement by herself, but we can tell that story another time).
Fritz and Ellen Hampe, my grandparents, have spent the whole of there lives helping other people without ever asking for help in return. This has meant raising 11 kids, myself included, helping veterans get back on their feet, helping friends and family through the riggers of divorce, sickness, and addiction. All through out middle and high school, they never hesitated to take in my friends who needed a home, a hot meal, and couple of kind hearts to get them where they need to go. This relentless kindness had made each of us the kind of people Fritz and Ellen believed we could be.
Their kind are the realist sort of people. Ellen worked on the early 911 systems for AT&T, then later took work part time in the school cafeteria at my elementary school so she could look after me. When we weren't both in school, she would accompany me to Boston, New York, and LA so that I could pursue my work as an actor. I was 10. But they believed in me. And that meant making another set of sacrifices to help me get to where I wanted to be.
After leaving a lucrative garage in Boston, Fritz opened his own home facility in the early 80s right next door to our home. His was a want for the sort of life many American's dream of. Getting to do things his way, run a good honest businees, and take care of family, his friends, and his community. And that's what he did for more than 30 years.
There is a stubbornness to not wanting for help. There is matter of pride, a tradition of New England stoicism, and a deep want to not be seen as burdensome. There's a fear of the kind of vulnerability that comes with knowing and admitting you don't have what you need to get by. Throughout the whole of my life, my grandparents have remained the two hardest working people I've ever known. It was only 3 years ago that mobility issues forced Pop to stop working in his garage full time. He was 78 years old. They've always struggled to make ends meet. They've always taken pride in making sure they did all they could to give the people around them good lives without cutting too many corners or making anyone go without. They did it through hard work and tremendous sacrifice. But now the time as come for all of us to finally have our shot at helping Fritz and Ellen.
On the morning of October 21st, Fritz could barely breath, he was in and out of consciousness. His blood pressure was dangerously low. He was taken by ambulance first to Falmouth Hospital and then to Brigham's and Women's in Boston. His kidneys, liver, and heart were showing early signs of failure. Doctors discovered that the restrictions to his breathing and low blood pressure were caused by two massive blood clots in his lungs. During preparations for surgery, Fritz had a heart attack and went into cardiac arrest. Doctors worked for over 6 minutes to resuscitate him but feared the worst. Then came back.
After the heart attack, the cardiac arrest, and the educed coma, doctors prepped our family for a range of outcomes, each with their own terrifying presumptions. For now, Fritz had dodged death, but the Fritz we knew could be gone. Concerns about loss of air to his brain meant that language and motor skills could no longer be functional, that he would need to stay on a feeding tube, that he may never speak, that he may not know who we were or who or where was. We had to be ready to face what came next. Then Fritz woke up.
He was alert. He knew all of us. He knew where he was, but was shaky on details of what had happened. When the neurologists examined him they were amazed. Doctors were throwing around the word miracle. It appeared the 6 minutes he was gone had done little at all to effect his brain. He could speak, he could take questions, he could grumpily complain that he hadn't had coffee. We had gotten our Pop back.
Tough doesn't begin to describe Fritz. His is a resilience that is the stuff of lore. Friends and I would joke that Fritz didn't fix cars, he gave them a sort of Clint Eastwood side eye and they'd get their act together. He's like a man from another time. Proud, and stoic. Sensitive, and loving. Honest, and trustworthy. An exemplary human being. Distinctly American. The salt of the Earth. Fritz was stabilized. His heart, liver, and kidneys bounced back, and his blood pressure returned to normal. Experimental surgery to eradicate the clots in his lungs, coupled with blood thinning medication, proved successful. For the first time in days things seemed to be turning around. That's when the doctors found the cancer.
The first was a mass on his leg, a liposarcoma, a type of soft tissue cancer of undisclosed origin that had gone without detection for 15 years. Because of money, a lack health insurance, and a gentleman's fear the last time Fritz had seen a doctor Jimmy Carter was leaving office. The nature of the cancer proved such that doctors believe it is unlikely to spread to other parts of the body, but determined to be the likely cause of the initial clotting in his lungs and the DVT found in his legs. Presently, doctors are confident that with surgery the mass can be removed. With his health regularly monitored, they are confident he could live comfortably, with out fear of its return for the rest of his natural life.
The second was a shadowy mass near his pancreas, initially believed to be early stages of pancreatic cancer, that medical professionals later discovered to be a pancreatic cyst, but it too will need to be removed with surgery.
As I type this, Fritz is on his way back to Brigham's. After a short stay in a rehabilitative nursing facility near our family's home in Sandwich, MA, Fritz contracted pneumonia and his heart has begun to beat erratically. He's conscious, but struggling with his short term memory. He is uncomfortable and frustrated that he has yet to return home. He has yet to regain the muscle capacity necessary to swallow on his own and continues to be nourished via a feeding tube. He's still upset he hasn't gotten that coffee.
Each of these hurtles has come at a tremendous fiscal and emotional cost to my family. The considerable total we are asking for may seem outlandish to some who read this, but the growing cost of medical care, coupled with the meager financial means of a blue collar family, mean that each day that passes only drives Fritz and Ellen further into an already substantial debt.
Proceeds from this GoFund Me campaign would aid in the following:
- Alleviating the substantial and compounding medical costs related to long term hospital stays, ambulance transport, and corrective medications.
-Fees for rehabilitative facilities and therapy for Fritz while he regains his strength and recovers from multiple pending surgeries.
-Funds towards long term care for Fritz when he finally returns home.
-Transportation, as Fritz and Ellen are without a working vehicle and thus rely solely on the grace of others to get to and from the hospital, to rehab, to regular check ups. -Alleviating the sizable personal debt that has accrued as the result of Fritz's inability to work.
I would like to take this last bit to say thank you for reading and contributing however you can. Every bit counts. Every share counts. Any help means a great deal to me and to my family. Any goodness that has come from this life has been the direct result of the love and care I have received from these two wonderful people. Friends and strangers alike, it is from the bottom of my heart that I thank you for taking the time to share and donate. Any funds we receive will immediately begin taking the weight off of their shoulders right away. Know that you are giving more than money, you are giving peace.
Deepest gratitude,
George Barber
Los Angeles, CA
Fritz and Ellen Hampe, my grandparents, have spent the whole of there lives helping other people without ever asking for help in return. This has meant raising 11 kids, myself included, helping veterans get back on their feet, helping friends and family through the riggers of divorce, sickness, and addiction. All through out middle and high school, they never hesitated to take in my friends who needed a home, a hot meal, and couple of kind hearts to get them where they need to go. This relentless kindness had made each of us the kind of people Fritz and Ellen believed we could be.
Their kind are the realist sort of people. Ellen worked on the early 911 systems for AT&T, then later took work part time in the school cafeteria at my elementary school so she could look after me. When we weren't both in school, she would accompany me to Boston, New York, and LA so that I could pursue my work as an actor. I was 10. But they believed in me. And that meant making another set of sacrifices to help me get to where I wanted to be.
After leaving a lucrative garage in Boston, Fritz opened his own home facility in the early 80s right next door to our home. His was a want for the sort of life many American's dream of. Getting to do things his way, run a good honest businees, and take care of family, his friends, and his community. And that's what he did for more than 30 years.
There is a stubbornness to not wanting for help. There is matter of pride, a tradition of New England stoicism, and a deep want to not be seen as burdensome. There's a fear of the kind of vulnerability that comes with knowing and admitting you don't have what you need to get by. Throughout the whole of my life, my grandparents have remained the two hardest working people I've ever known. It was only 3 years ago that mobility issues forced Pop to stop working in his garage full time. He was 78 years old. They've always struggled to make ends meet. They've always taken pride in making sure they did all they could to give the people around them good lives without cutting too many corners or making anyone go without. They did it through hard work and tremendous sacrifice. But now the time as come for all of us to finally have our shot at helping Fritz and Ellen.
On the morning of October 21st, Fritz could barely breath, he was in and out of consciousness. His blood pressure was dangerously low. He was taken by ambulance first to Falmouth Hospital and then to Brigham's and Women's in Boston. His kidneys, liver, and heart were showing early signs of failure. Doctors discovered that the restrictions to his breathing and low blood pressure were caused by two massive blood clots in his lungs. During preparations for surgery, Fritz had a heart attack and went into cardiac arrest. Doctors worked for over 6 minutes to resuscitate him but feared the worst. Then came back.
After the heart attack, the cardiac arrest, and the educed coma, doctors prepped our family for a range of outcomes, each with their own terrifying presumptions. For now, Fritz had dodged death, but the Fritz we knew could be gone. Concerns about loss of air to his brain meant that language and motor skills could no longer be functional, that he would need to stay on a feeding tube, that he may never speak, that he may not know who we were or who or where was. We had to be ready to face what came next. Then Fritz woke up.
He was alert. He knew all of us. He knew where he was, but was shaky on details of what had happened. When the neurologists examined him they were amazed. Doctors were throwing around the word miracle. It appeared the 6 minutes he was gone had done little at all to effect his brain. He could speak, he could take questions, he could grumpily complain that he hadn't had coffee. We had gotten our Pop back.
Tough doesn't begin to describe Fritz. His is a resilience that is the stuff of lore. Friends and I would joke that Fritz didn't fix cars, he gave them a sort of Clint Eastwood side eye and they'd get their act together. He's like a man from another time. Proud, and stoic. Sensitive, and loving. Honest, and trustworthy. An exemplary human being. Distinctly American. The salt of the Earth. Fritz was stabilized. His heart, liver, and kidneys bounced back, and his blood pressure returned to normal. Experimental surgery to eradicate the clots in his lungs, coupled with blood thinning medication, proved successful. For the first time in days things seemed to be turning around. That's when the doctors found the cancer.
The first was a mass on his leg, a liposarcoma, a type of soft tissue cancer of undisclosed origin that had gone without detection for 15 years. Because of money, a lack health insurance, and a gentleman's fear the last time Fritz had seen a doctor Jimmy Carter was leaving office. The nature of the cancer proved such that doctors believe it is unlikely to spread to other parts of the body, but determined to be the likely cause of the initial clotting in his lungs and the DVT found in his legs. Presently, doctors are confident that with surgery the mass can be removed. With his health regularly monitored, they are confident he could live comfortably, with out fear of its return for the rest of his natural life.
The second was a shadowy mass near his pancreas, initially believed to be early stages of pancreatic cancer, that medical professionals later discovered to be a pancreatic cyst, but it too will need to be removed with surgery.
As I type this, Fritz is on his way back to Brigham's. After a short stay in a rehabilitative nursing facility near our family's home in Sandwich, MA, Fritz contracted pneumonia and his heart has begun to beat erratically. He's conscious, but struggling with his short term memory. He is uncomfortable and frustrated that he has yet to return home. He has yet to regain the muscle capacity necessary to swallow on his own and continues to be nourished via a feeding tube. He's still upset he hasn't gotten that coffee.
Each of these hurtles has come at a tremendous fiscal and emotional cost to my family. The considerable total we are asking for may seem outlandish to some who read this, but the growing cost of medical care, coupled with the meager financial means of a blue collar family, mean that each day that passes only drives Fritz and Ellen further into an already substantial debt.
Proceeds from this GoFund Me campaign would aid in the following:
- Alleviating the substantial and compounding medical costs related to long term hospital stays, ambulance transport, and corrective medications.
-Fees for rehabilitative facilities and therapy for Fritz while he regains his strength and recovers from multiple pending surgeries.
-Funds towards long term care for Fritz when he finally returns home.
-Transportation, as Fritz and Ellen are without a working vehicle and thus rely solely on the grace of others to get to and from the hospital, to rehab, to regular check ups. -Alleviating the sizable personal debt that has accrued as the result of Fritz's inability to work.
I would like to take this last bit to say thank you for reading and contributing however you can. Every bit counts. Every share counts. Any help means a great deal to me and to my family. Any goodness that has come from this life has been the direct result of the love and care I have received from these two wonderful people. Friends and strangers alike, it is from the bottom of my heart that I thank you for taking the time to share and donate. Any funds we receive will immediately begin taking the weight off of their shoulders right away. Know that you are giving more than money, you are giving peace.
Deepest gratitude,
George Barber
Los Angeles, CA
Organizer and beneficiary
George Barber
Organizer
Forestdale, MA
Ellen Hampe
Beneficiary