For Leah, Grace and Maddie: Support from Framily
Donation protected
This GoFundMe is about gathering support for Leah, Maddie and Grace, to help them forward in the tough journey they are traversing together.
Over the past few years and through COVID, these brave and beautiful beings have been trying to work with the deeply challenging impacts of trauma, anorexia and PTSD, while trying to keep a single-parent family unit together.
Eating disorders affect about one million people* in Australia - that's just the reported cases. Of these, anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality. It is a disorder that affects every facet of life, deeply impacting family, friends, and community. In the case of Leah’s family, it has led to multiple occasions over the past two years where Maddie and Grace have seriously harmed themselves in an attempt to alleviate the pain of their past trauma.
Maddie has experienced trauma of her own, which led to such suffering that she felt the need to put her own life at risk more than once. Beyond the already turbulent emotions one goes through as a teen, and the dramatic effects COVID has had on teens worldwide, she had to find ways of dealing: with a sibling constantly pulled between hospital and home, and a mother who is being exhausted by the ceaseless tides of each repetitive cycle. When something hurts, you try to numb the pain.
Even in her greatest efforts as the wonderful mother and being that she is, Leah's strength and sincerity still has human limits. Without the opportunity to fill her own cup, working 3 jobs to try to tend to current financial needs, and little to no support from the framework of the current hospital system (especially for anorexia - merely 25 hospital beds across all Australian states**) – she is at breaking point.
It is time that we step in as a community who have the courage to care.
If you know Leah, you'll know her deep joy, humour and generosity. We encourage any contribution however great or small, to help alleviate some of her external pressures, so her inner well can be replenished. For now, a financial contribution gives them the most versatility, but as a group of friends surrounding her, we are open to suggestions of other ways to support her, so please do reach out.
Sometimes it's hard to know what to do, even when we want to support someone going through a hard time. This is about framily - friends who are family. We hope this GoFundMe offers an opportunity to show your support (every little bit counts).
At this point, you might be asking:
Where will the money go?
Your financial donation will help:
- Support Grace and Maddie’s hospital, psychology and other associated medical bills
- Contribute towards the growing debt looming over Leah, after having to remortgage of her home a third time, to afford aforementioned costs
- Allow Leah to take a fewer shifts from her third job, so that she can actually have time to rest and recover
*update: we have received heartbreaking news from Leah, that $30k of the money raised so far has been stolen from her bank account, in addition to her own savings, courtesy of a sophisticated scam.
Using information they had gained about her online that she was applying for jobs, they presented as a recruitment company she was applying with, and the information she supplied allowed them to drain her bank account... the week she was due to pay off her bills. As opposed to fraud, money stolen from scams is unlikely to be recovered, so this money is tragically, gone.
This is a major setback for the work we have done to support Leah and the girls, but we most push on for them. By no means are we asking those of you who have already generously donated, to give more.
Having said that, we appreciate your kindness, and welcome anyone who has heard about this truly harrowing situation to donate if you are in the position to. We also urge you to be careful in your own lives when it comes to scams, as they are increasingly becoming more insideous and effective.
Who is organising this?
We are a team of five friends of Leah’s who have been supporting her through this challenge over the past two years. While we have done what we can so far, the circumstances have gone beyond expectation and we cannot do it alone. We welcome all support for this amazing family.
Thank you, sincerely.
Caty, Emily, Lucy, Mel & Nat
aka. The Hotsauce Ladies
~*~
References
Fundraising team: The Hotsauce Ladies (2)
HotSauce Ladies
Organizer
North Melbourne, VIC
Leah Wilson
Beneficiary
Lucy Lawes
Team member