Help Shelly as she faces her hardest race

Let me introduce Shelly Cooper to you. Shelly is about family!

Her school family - To all of the students at Westville High School, she is Mrs. Cooper, their high school principal. She loves her students and loves her job. Her fellow faculty/staff members think of her as a mentor and as a friend

Her church family - Shelly has long been active in her church. She has served as a Sunday School teacher, an assistant pastor, and an outreach speaker. She has done everything from missions work to performing weddings.

Her rodeo family - Shelly's family loves the rodeo and the people they have become friends with through their rodeo pursuits as they followed their son Jake through the years in calf roping.

Her own family - Oh how Shelly loves her family. You can see by her profile picture posted that she adores her grandson. Robbie and Shelly have been married for many years and have one son. She looks forward to time spent with her sister, brother, inlaws, nieces, nephews, dad, etc... Family time is precious.

The Accident - On a hot morning at the end of June, Shelly and her running friend, Levita, went out for their normal run on a rarely used old highway section. The accident happened when a distracted driver hit them both from behind. They were both transported to a Fayetteville, AR hospital. There, Shelly was stabilized enough to travel and was put on another helicopter and sent to a level 1 trauma hospital in Springfield, MO.

The Injuries and Outlook - Shelly has a very long road ahead of her. There have been some surgeries, some scary moments and lots of prayers going up. At this time they could use your help. Due to the extent of the injuries, Shelly will be bedridden for 10-12 weeks with no weight-bearing activities allowed on either leg or arm. When she is able, she will be moved to a rehabilitation care facility and then eventually home to a hospital bed and home therapy.

The Need - Shelly will be off work for an unknown amount of time. Her husband, Robbie, will be off with her as much as possible. He is currently using the last few days of sick time he had accumulated at McKee where he works as a truck driver for Little Debbie products. By next week, he will be out of days. He will not lose his job, but he will lose his salary and his insurance premiums will also become another financial obligation added on. Friends have been helping out by renting an Airbnb for the family in Springfield and help with that would be great. Cherokee Nation and insurance will be paying many of the bills but there is a lot that will not be covered including salaries, insurance premiums, living expenses away from home, travel expenses back and forth, meals, and the concentrated care of the first 10 weeks of the assisted rehab facility.

Shelly is one of the first ones there when others need help. Now it's our turn to help her. Please consider helping this small town high school principal and her beautiful family. All help is greatly appreciated and no amount is too small.