James "Jimmy" Rippy

Hi. My name is Rob Dinkins and I am raising money for my good friend, James "Jimmy" Rippy. We went to school together and played football and basketball together. We were more than teammates: we were like brothers coming from the same community. Now, my brother needs the help of our Coraopolis community. On Oct. 19, James not feeling well and had to be rushed to the hospital in McKeesport by his employee Troy Thompson. When he got there, they discovered an infection had settled in his groin area. He was transferred to Presby Hospital where they had to perform emergency surgery. During surgery, he had two strokes and ended up in a coma for almost a week. In the weeks that followed, he had to have five additional surgeries. On the day he came out of the coma, he found himself surrounded by his family, including his sister, Marian "Cissy" Rippy, his daughter, and his coworker, Troy. While at Presby, Rip had doctors shake his hand, amazed at how well he has done given everything he had undergone because at one point they didn't know if he would even survive. While he faces a long battle ahead, James is blessed to be here and not have suffered any permanent brain damage. In addition to Troy Thompson, who saved his life that day, and his beloved sister who is the backbone of his family, Rip wants to thank Rahim and the Fisher family, who have been taking care of his business, and his friends, like myself, Mark Foster, Floyd Faulkner, Clarence Carlos, Ricky Borne and Coach Ed Wovchko to name just a few, and of course, all of the nurses and doctors who were all part of his healing process and his ongoing therapy. As he said, you really find out who your friends are at a time like this. "I know I am loved," he said, and he really appreciates that, so let's show him how much we love him and give him some help. James is currently in a nursing home and will be for a few more weeks at least. In addition to his medical bills, his other bills are also piling up as he has not been able to work for the past two months. In the future, we will be organizing a basketball tournament to help him out, but for now, anything you donate will be helpful. If you cannot donate right now, please share this story in hopes that someone else can.