Get Ms.Darrel Back to Her Beloved Students

Hi, my name is Amber and Darrel is my cousin. Teacher Darrel Wilson teaches TK kindergarten at the Academy Preschool in Palm Desert. A couple of weekends ago, she had a tragic accident and fractured her neck. Because of the fear of how much doctor bills would be, she did not seek immediate medical care. The next day, she woke up in such excruciating pain that she decided to go to the hospital, even though she was so fearful of what it would cost.

She went to the JFK hospital, and they ran lots of scans. Within hours, she was flown by helicopter to Desert Regional in Palm Springs. There, she was assessed by the team, and the neurosurgeon on call was reading her chart. Darrel was lying completely flat on her back in a neck brace as per the protocol for a broken neck and did not see the face of the doctor who entered the room. The brain surgeon who happened to be on call that weekend was Jessica Shields, MD. Jessica's son, Jackson, happens to be in Darrel's class of 11 kids, and Darrel is a beloved teacher to him as he had her last year and this year!

Shields quickly tells Darrel that had she waited much longer, she would be paralyzed. They need to do immediate surgery to save her ability to walk and teach in the classroom once again.

Shields says it was a stressful surgery because she realized she was operating on one of her son's most favorite people!

Darrel is a very special woman—selfless and kind, 110 percent committed to the children in her class that she views as her own kids in a sense. She has taught them so much in the past three months. Many of them are close to reading and writing sentences for the very first time. Her life calling is being a kindergarten teacher, and she is working on her continued education. There's nothing else she wants to be doing in her life than teaching. And now, the even more tragic thing is, she is away from her 11 students for the next month or two, recovering with many bills looming. We ask for donations to get Darrel back on track and back into the classroom. Thank you for all your prayers, well wishes, and donations!!

All funds will be transferred to Darrel and used for all medical expenses.