Help Aid Nurse After Tragic Loss & Life Altering Injuries

Help a Nurse Rebuild Her Life After Tragic Loss and Life-Altering Injuries

My name is Melissa Lawson, and I am a traveling nurse. Nursing isn’t just my career—it’s my way of serving and helping others. Today, however, I find myself on the other side, needing help and compassion from my community as I navigate unimaginable challenges and work toward recovery.

Last year, my life was shattered by an unthinkable tragedy. My boyfriend was struck and killed by a 26-foot box truck. He died on impact. After identifying his body, the trauma of that experience caused me to go into critical heart failure. I was diagnosed with Broken Heart Syndrome, a condition caused by extreme stress and grief that left my heart severely damaged.

Since then, I have been fighting every day to recover. Recently, I was placed on a LifeVest due to the extent of the damage to my heart, and I am scheduled to have a defibrillator implanted this December to prevent further complications.

As I was still grieving and struggling with my health, another tragedy struck. I was in a horrific car accident where my car rolled several times, leaving me with catastrophic injuries:

• Multiple facial fractures, including an orbital fracture and a broken nose

• Two pelvic fractures

• A leg broken in two places

• A shattered ankle and knee, both requiring surgical repairs with titanium implants (ORIF surgery)

• Two severed fingers on my dominant hand, requiring tendon and ligament reconstruction in two separate surgeries

I have undergone multiple surgeries and now attend physical therapy three times a week. Despite my efforts, I still do not have full mobility or functionality in my right hand or leg, and doctors are uncertain if I will ever regain these for my hand.

These injuries have left me unable to work. As a traveling nurse, my career requires mobility and full physical capability—abilities I no longer have. I am unable to provide for myself and will be out of work for several months as I continue my recovery.

My family has been incredibly supportive, providing me with a place to live and food to eat. However, they are doing all they can and cannot shoulder this burden alone.

I am humbly reaching out to ask for your help. As a nurse, I’ve devoted my life to serving others, and it is incredibly hard for me to ask for help now. But I am in desperate need of financial support to cover my medical expenses, physical therapy, basic living costs, and other recovery-related needs.

Your support will help me focus on healing without the constant stress of financial insecurity. Any contribution, no matter how small, would mean the world to me and bring me one step closer to returning to the profession I love—helping others in their time of need.

If you can’t donate, I kindly ask that you share my story with others who might be able to help. I believe in the power of compassion and community, and I am holding onto hope that, together, we can make it through this incredibly difficult time.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kindness, compassion, and generosity. You are giving me strength to keep going, and I will forever be grateful.