Help Katie get through spinal surgery
Donation protected
Hi everyone! I’m currently fundraising to try and support myself and my family through a really difficult time.
On September 14th, 2023, I had a very traumatic incident at work that has left me housebound ever since. I was assaulted by a client in a very sexually motivated way, and my attempts to prevent myself from being assaulted left me strangled, beaten, and traumatized. I was strangled with a 2 inch thick strap, punched in the back of the head and face, and kicked repeatedly in my knees and lower back. I returned to work the next day, thinking that my injuries were minor. By the weekend, I was profusely vomiting, and struggling to move my neck or head. By Monday, I could barely get out of bed. It took weeks to figure out what was going on, but eventually we found that I had a spinal injury that was compressing my spinal cord, and pinching a few important nerves, including the nerve that controls the left half of my body.
Since this incident, I have had increasing muscular degeneration of my left side, as well as numbness, and at times, entire loss of feeling to that side of my body. I am unable to drive, work, and some days, even get out of bed. I’m left at risk of being paralyzed, losing my voice, my ability to swallow, and many other health complications. I have also been unable to have access to any kind of pain management, as they are booked out until late January. The pain is nearly unbearable, and I have rarely left the house since September.
This injury has sent me to the emergency room countless times, and caused several other related medical issues. I’ve had severe kidney issues, possibly due to being kicked in my lower back so many times, and I have begun to struggle to eat due to choking and swelling in my throat. I am plagued with bouts of sudden vomiting, and constantly go back and forth between not sleeping for days at a time, or sleeping constantly.
My boyfriend Noah has been absolutely amazing through all of this. He takes care of me physically and mentally, and he has continued to work very hard to support our little family on one income. We have also had incredible help from friends and family that we cannot begin to thank them enough for.
However, as this journey continues, and as we continue to learn more details about how long I will be out of work, we have realized that we may need more support throughout all of this. I am being scheduled for surgery this week, and I will likely be out of work for several more months to come. We have managed to stay afloat thus far, but we are struggling, and we don’t want to take more from our friends and families and cause them to struggle as well. So, we are reaching out to our community.
We are in a desperate, and at times hopeless situation. I have been denied worker’s compensation, and our county is no longer approving people for emergency assistance. I will have to pay for all of my medical bills, as well as continuing to pay rent, groceries, medications, and other bills in the meantime.
For anyone who knows Noah and I, you know that we are not people who like to ask for help if we don’t absolutely need it. We have tried our best to seek out every possible option that we could do on our own, but we have just hit wall after wall. We are desperate, and so, after much consideration and legal advice, we have decided it’s time to tell our story.
We’re asking for help to get through this very difficult time, and absolutely anything helps. Even just sharing this GoFundMe can get our story out there, and help us find others who can help as well!!
Thank you so much to everyone who has helped us make it this far, we could not be where we are without you, and we cannot even begin to express how grateful we are. We love you all, thank you so much for reading.
On September 14th, 2023, I had a very traumatic incident at work that has left me housebound ever since. I was assaulted by a client in a very sexually motivated way, and my attempts to prevent myself from being assaulted left me strangled, beaten, and traumatized. I was strangled with a 2 inch thick strap, punched in the back of the head and face, and kicked repeatedly in my knees and lower back. I returned to work the next day, thinking that my injuries were minor. By the weekend, I was profusely vomiting, and struggling to move my neck or head. By Monday, I could barely get out of bed. It took weeks to figure out what was going on, but eventually we found that I had a spinal injury that was compressing my spinal cord, and pinching a few important nerves, including the nerve that controls the left half of my body.
Since this incident, I have had increasing muscular degeneration of my left side, as well as numbness, and at times, entire loss of feeling to that side of my body. I am unable to drive, work, and some days, even get out of bed. I’m left at risk of being paralyzed, losing my voice, my ability to swallow, and many other health complications. I have also been unable to have access to any kind of pain management, as they are booked out until late January. The pain is nearly unbearable, and I have rarely left the house since September.
This injury has sent me to the emergency room countless times, and caused several other related medical issues. I’ve had severe kidney issues, possibly due to being kicked in my lower back so many times, and I have begun to struggle to eat due to choking and swelling in my throat. I am plagued with bouts of sudden vomiting, and constantly go back and forth between not sleeping for days at a time, or sleeping constantly.
My boyfriend Noah has been absolutely amazing through all of this. He takes care of me physically and mentally, and he has continued to work very hard to support our little family on one income. We have also had incredible help from friends and family that we cannot begin to thank them enough for.
However, as this journey continues, and as we continue to learn more details about how long I will be out of work, we have realized that we may need more support throughout all of this. I am being scheduled for surgery this week, and I will likely be out of work for several more months to come. We have managed to stay afloat thus far, but we are struggling, and we don’t want to take more from our friends and families and cause them to struggle as well. So, we are reaching out to our community.
We are in a desperate, and at times hopeless situation. I have been denied worker’s compensation, and our county is no longer approving people for emergency assistance. I will have to pay for all of my medical bills, as well as continuing to pay rent, groceries, medications, and other bills in the meantime.
For anyone who knows Noah and I, you know that we are not people who like to ask for help if we don’t absolutely need it. We have tried our best to seek out every possible option that we could do on our own, but we have just hit wall after wall. We are desperate, and so, after much consideration and legal advice, we have decided it’s time to tell our story.
We’re asking for help to get through this very difficult time, and absolutely anything helps. Even just sharing this GoFundMe can get our story out there, and help us find others who can help as well!!
Thank you so much to everyone who has helped us make it this far, we could not be where we are without you, and we cannot even begin to express how grateful we are. We love you all, thank you so much for reading.
Fundraising team: Team fundraiser (2)
Cheyenne Phillips
Organizer
Oakdale, MN
Noah Schriener
Team member