Help single mom, DV victim with eye surgery

Hello we are fundraising for our friend, Erin Bohannon, who was a victim of domestic violence 5 years ago. This abuse tragically escalated to a debilitating injury. The father of her daughter threw an object at her from a close distance, which hit her left eye. This resulted in the shattering of the left orbital floor of her eye requiring emergent surgery for placement of an orbital implant that would support her eye. The injury also caused disfigurement of her eye and distorted vision. Erin has shown significant strength and humility throughout her journey. Since the injury was so severe, Erin had to wear an eye patch to hide the disfigurement. She showed a lot of strength when she finally took it off and revealed her injuries to those around her.

 

Since Erin has been a single parent for the past five years, she has only been able to afford insurance from the Marketplace. Unfortunately, none of these plans were contracted with the type of surgical specialist she would need to reconstruct her eye, until 2021, when a plan was added that allowed her to see a well renowned oculoplastic surgeon, who specializes in the reconstruction of the eye. This specialist also determined that Erin still had untreated fractures in her eye, foreign bodies, and her left eye was not in alignment with her right eye, which resulted in double vision. Erin underwent surgery to repair her eye in June of this year. However, once the surgeon entered the eye cavity, it was found to be infected. The previous implant was removed and Erin was discharged to home on antibiotics.

 

Once the infection was resolved, Erin returned to surgery in October, where her eye was reconstructed, using a bone graft from her hip. This required the services of three surgeons; the oculoplastic surgeon, ENT and a second plastic surgeon who specialized in bone grafts. The surgeons were successful in reconstructing Erin’s eye. However, due to the severity of the original injury, and the need for multiple procedures, Erin’s is still with some disfigurement, in that her eyelid droops (ptosis) and she is unable to open her eye completely.

 

All of these treatments, even with the assistance of insurance, has resulted in substantial medical debt that Erin does not have the resources to pay. Additionally, she will require one last surgery (hopefully) to correct the drooping of her eyelid and the inability to completely open it. This surgery alone, is requiring $4,000.00 out of pocket, which Erin does not have. She deserves this more than anyone we know, and we would love to support her by trying to raise money to pay for her last surgery.