Gallaway Family

Hey, Amber Gallaway here. I'm the woman that created the #STANDUPFORSTUNTS petition and who runs the social media movement.  My husband, Patrick Gallaway is a stuntman who was seriously hurt on the job by an actor, in 2017, and because of it is fully disabled from a Hypoxic-Anoxic and Traumatic brain injury, Post Concussive Syndrome, PTSD, in addition to other serious and debilitating physical injuries, some of which his medical team is still trying to figure out. *Because of the 3 yr battle for healthcare and an ongoing (brutal) litigation process, we cannot share too many details publicly, as of now. Since his accident, in 2017, I had to stop working to be his caregiver, to navigate the health care system, move us 5 times (1st time was from our home of 10 yrs), and adapt to raising our children on my own. We have literally been through hell and back ( a long unbelievable story for another day).... but still managed to financially stay afloat, and were set to through the summer but some very unexpected financial bumps in the road popped up suddenly.   ***Please know, we haven't asked for help until we really needed it, and we really need help now.***  Also, it is very emotionally hard to ask for help. Patrick has impaired self-awareness and memory, which makes him have a very bad reaction to questions and getting help (kind of like Drew Barrymore in 50 1st dates when she realized what date it was). We also had extremely painful experiences when asking for non-financial support from some people through this health crisis. The sting of that is still felt today.  Because of that all, I truly have waited till the wheels came off to reach out again for help. We are needing help until some other money we have comes in and the in home services I applied for him gets approved, which HOPEFULLY will take about 3 months to come in. HOWEVER, there is NO CERTAINTY IN that TIME frame or in getting approved, the process of getting him help has been so long and brutal! PLEASE PRAY I continue to get Patrick's cooperation in the process, that has been a big challenge in keeping us afloat through this injury. The hypoxic-anoxic brain injury side just gets him extremely confused and distrustful. Details in link-  https://www.caregiver.org/hypoxic-anoxic-brain-injury  When he gets overwhelmed it quickly turns to full on stressed, then the PTSD gets triggered, and the confusion from the brain injury just makes it all very complicated and extremely difficult to handle on my own. His occupational therapist that comes to the house really helps calm him, as a neutral person, but he only comes once a week and approvals get denied all the time. We are currently in limbo again waiting for appeals of treatments to process. He was in patient at the Center for Neuro Skills and then that was too distressing, so then was out patient and we had to live separately to give him the quiet he needed, and not to alarm the children by the change in his personality and behavior, which was very difficult to commute around to care for him and the kids on my own. I am really hoping we can stay in this home. It is an older 2 bed and 1 bath country home that is very quiet on some undeveloped land, which is just what Patrick needs to help calm his mind and nervous system. Luckily, it is also more affordable then living in two smaller separate places, and commuting around to care for him. It also allows him to have his therapy's at home, which really helps eliminate stress of driving. Traffic is another PTSD trigger for him... it's extremely distressing being in the car with him in traffic. I PRAY WE GET THROUGH THIS!  Now that our savings has been unexpectedly depleted it is very distressing to think of having to move again. I no longer have money to hire movers, Pat is unable to lift anything heavy and would need to hire help to move. It took almost 8 months since 1st losing our home of 10 years before we regained a sense of home stability. It was extremely difficult finding one that fit his needs along with the unappealing conditions of our life right now, combined with a competitive market/housing crisis, which made the relocation process incredibly challenging. We had a healthy savings that carried us the past 3 yrs, which helped us get into this place but that is now gone.   For our fellow Stunt Community Members: By helping us get through this time you are not only financially helping a stunt family maintain a sense of stability for the kids and relieve financial stress so I can focus on getting through the extremely difficult time of getting medical care for all the health issues caused by the work injury, helping maintain his treatment plans, getting through the stressful litigation and the 1-2 year disability approval process, BUT ALSO financially enable me (Amber Gallaway) to continue the STAND UP FOR STUNTS advocacy work along with the full-time caregiving duties. https://youtu.be/YuJQxbsEzWs  It is critical for his continued healthcare approvals and progress that I attend every appointment because with his various types of brain injuries, his self awareness and reasoning has been severely impaired and he does not understand all the impairment issues us at home or his care team have observed. Because he has so many different specialists, it is up to us (me) to communicate the findings between doctors.  If anyone knows of low stress work I can do remotely (ie social media marketing) I would greatly appreciate the lead! If you made it this far, I would also like to ask that you PLEASE think of our family or others you may know suffering from a work disability and/or brain injury that desperately need the social security disability they had paid into... We have been told by our attorney it's a 1-2 yr battle to get approval. Alot of families fall apart and people die while waiting, and that is actually the strategy behind making them wait. It's cruel and evil. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/dec/02/half-of-all-homeless-people-may-have-had-traumatic-brain-injury  Any donation amount is greatly appreciated! Or even help in simply sharing.  Thank you, Amber Gallaway #STANDUPFORSTUNTS!