Mazurkiewicz Family

My name is Dan Schoneck. I am a close and personal friend of the Mazurkiewicz family.. Sunday February 13th just a little after 12am I received a call from a neighbor to Joe, Rob and Shawn to let me know that their house was on fire. I rushed to Minnesota Lake to give them support and see if I could do anything. I ended up putting them up for the night at a hotel in Mankato, Minnesota. Sunday Morning I called to check on them and they were meeting with the Red Cross becuase they had nothing but the smoke infested clothes on their backs. They stated after meeting with the Red Cross, they would go look for their three cats that were not seen once the fire started or after. One cat had been with the family for over 10 years so they were like family. Just south of Mapleton, MN while Rob was in the back seat having a conversation with his dad who was driving, Joe passed out due to unknown reasons at this time. Shawn was resting in the front seat while Rob unbuckled his seat belt, reached forward and tried to grab the steering wheel before they went off the road and struck a large cement culvert and small embankment at the top side of the ditch. The vehicle rolled several times, damaging the drivers side of the vehicle pretty bad.

Joe was air lifted to St. Mary's in Rochester and is currently on life support.

Rob was taken by ambulance to Mayo Hospital Manakto and once a chest tube was put in him for a collapsed lung he was flown by helicopter to St Mary's Rochester. Rob had cronic back problems due to a car accident when he was a kid and was practically handi-capped before the accident due to the pain he is in on a daily basis and the fact that doctors have been unwilling to help him get the medical attention he has needed for several years. So he was pretty much couch and bedridden. Now Rob is faced with a broken back, broken ribs and a shattered shoulder. They are doing surgery on his head today (2-14) to fix the scalp damage he received from the accident. Recovery time for Rob is unknown at the moment.

Shawn thankfully is ok with just some bangs and bruises and sore legs. But he has a lot to handle coming up here..

All of this chaos happened within 13 hours of each other, from one terrible incident to the next that is just as heartbreaking. What the fire did not ruin in the house is now covered in 2'' of ice as the fire departments sprayed water on the house for 5 hours straight. Total loss of every single thing they owned.

Both Shawn and Rob are two of the most caring people I know. Never ones to forget a birthday or to give a present to someone even when their means of life are mediocre at best. Either would give the shirts off their backs to a stranger. They have hearts of gold, and they did not deserve this at all.

Any help you could give will be appreciated more than you will ever know.

Sincerly,

Dan Schoneck on be half of the Mazurkiewicz's