Steve Marks keep up with bills

First off I’m embarrassed to even need to ask for help. As you may or may not know I had a life-changing fall on July 15 and have been out of work since. This is what happened.

On the morning of July 15, 2023, I was working in my driveway with my wife and my reluctant kids to fix the awning on our camper. The awning was damaged in a storm while we were away in Virginia Beach. I was standing on the top rung of my ladder removing the old awning. As I got to the last two feet of the right side the left side piston engaged, the piston is what keeps the awning up and out, and the awning bar threw me off the ladder. I tried to hold on to the awning bar and ripped up two fingernails.

I landed about six feet away on my tailbone and flung back hitting my head on the concrete. The rest of the story is what I’m told happened and some little blips of memory. My wife, Jennifer, came running over. She said I immediately grabbed my head and was trying to stand up but was stumbling around. She managed to get me inside the house and sit on a chair. My son was on the phone with 911 and I yelled at him to hang up the phone, I’m fine. All I need to do is lay down for a few minutes and I’ll be good. He had already given the 911 operator our information and I kept yelling hang up I don’t need an ambulance. Eventually, my wife said, “Just tell them we’ll call the firehouse and see if someone can come take a look at him.”

The crews that morning were at an “active shooter” training and luckily the 911 operator put all that information into the computer so it sent the call to our “First Due”. This is a dispatch system that sends everything the dispatcher types into the computer out to everyone. The Deputy Chief saw the information and knew it was my address and sent the ambulance, medics, and fire truck to my house.

The chief and the ambulance arrived at my house with the fire truck soon to follow. They started asking me questions that I couldn’t answer, didn’t know where I was, didn't know what happened, didn't know basic questions that I should have known. So they packaged me up and took me to the ambulance. I have no recollection of any of this, the first little blip of information I remember is hearing sirens and the medic who I’ve known for 20+ years tell me “I’ve always wanted to stick you” speaking of the IV. The next thing I remember is another little blip, I was in the Trauma Center at Cooper and there were people all around me asking a million questions. That was the end of my memory for a few days.

They took me to get a head CT and found I had fractured my skull in two places and had a major brain bleed. The neurosurgeon was telling my wife that I had to go up to the OR for emergency surgery. She said “Usually when someone has a brain bleed this bad they are comatose, so it's a good sign I’m awake, not that I remember any of this.

I was taken up to surgery where they repaired the brain bleed and rebuilt my skull using 6-10 plates and screws. The neurosurgeon told my wife everything went well.

Again I only remember little blips of memory, I recall seeing my wife, mom, brother, sister, and my kids all around my bed. The next memory is the typical doctor/movie thing of the neurosurgeon shining the light in my eyes. I didn’t start remembering things until the second day in the trauma ICU. My wife, who had just started a new job, had stayed with me sleeping on the chair in my room. Since my brother is the CNO (Chief Nursing Officer) of Cooper we got a few special privileges, like my wife being able to stay with me every night and having more than two visitors.

So after five days in the Trauma ICU, I was released to go home. As of this writing, almost a month after the fall, I still have blurry vision on the right side, hearing difficulties on the right side, dizzy spells, headaches daily and I’m not allowed to drive. My wife had to quit her job to take me to all the doctors, testing, and make sure I took my medicines. She tried to rely on the guys from the firehouse, they took turns coming to make sure I was okay, make sure I took my medication, and make sure I wasn't doing anything I wasn't supposed to do. Me, being me, made them stop because I’m too proud to ask for help, well until now, now that things are getting bad financially.

Luckily for me having the fire department as a support group made some things easier. They did a signup and dropped off dinner every night for three weeks. That took a major load off my wife.

I just started physical therapy and occupational therapy. I have appointments with specialists, which are extremely hard to get, at the beginning of September. I’m to see an ENT for my hearing issue, an eye doctor for my blurry vision, and a concussion specialist for my dizzy spells and constant headaches. The neurosurgeon doesn't expect me to be able to go back to work, if things start to improve, until October.

This has put a major strain on me and my family financially. We depended on Steve Marks Handyman's income probably much more than we should have. Between that and my wife not working yet, she is going to start a new job hopefully soon, we are in a tight spot.

It kills me to have to ask but if anyone can help us out I would appreciate it more than you can possibly imagine.

Thanks,

Steve Marks

(Please excuse any grammar, spelling, or other mistakes as I’m still not right in the head)