Tech Repair Advocate Loren Nunley Needs Your Help

Hi Friends, I'm Rob Link and Loren Nunley reached out to me recently to ask if I could help him and his family in a time of need. Loren has some serious medical issues that have prohibited him from being able to work. After years of health concerns that have limited his abilities he recently was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease called lymphocytic esophagitis, which has no cure! He has know been diagnosed with three serious diseases that cause him debilitating fatigue and there are many days that he can’t even get out of bed.

The situation has grown desperate as they have exhausted all of their savings just to pay medical bills, get treatment, buy medicine, and keep their home. They are about 6-8 months away from getting his disability started and Medicare as well. In the meantime they really need help from the community of repair people that he has helped support and build over the last 13+ years of his career. Please consider donating today and share this campaign with others!

MORE ABOUT LOREN AND HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE INDUSTRY

The first time I met Loren and his lovely wife Sandra was at an industry event where they were setting up to teach repair people how to micro solder. He was pretty busy that day preparing to teach a few dozen people skills to help them improve their small businesses, but he took time to talk with me about our shared passion of helping the tech repair industry thrive. That's the kind of guy Loren is, always willing to help others.

His decision to reach out to me for help was not easy for him. His recent messages to me are filled with apologies for even asking for help - part pride and part humble spirit. Loren is the real deal and is more than worthy of support from the community that he has given so much of himself to for the better part of 13 years. Again, please help support this man who has given so much!

LOREN NUNELY BIO

If you have been involved with the tech repair industry anytime in the last 13 years then you have heard of many of the original titan techs. Loren Nunley is a well known micro soldering expert who has worked with many other shops and technicians all around the world, no matter if it was giving techs advice over chat, phone calls, in person, at numerous conferences like ERC, CTIA and others. He also has been involved with right to repair, repair.org, Tech Care Association and has done many online interviews and speaking engagements. He has freely offered help over the phone, messages and emails just to help other techs with repairs while offering business advice to many.

He has had his brick and mortar store in Corinth, MS for over 10 years now running it with his wife Sandra. He started out as The Cell Phone Doctor, a 1 man operation that grew into a company with 10 employees and two locations. He's done mail in board repairs for many years that helped bring life back to dead boards, even if just for a moment to retrieve customer data. He has also done a lot of on-site micro-soldering training to help many techs improve their skills.

He has long had a passion for the electronics industry and its ability to innovate to bring progress to the industry. Just before the COVID 19 outbreak Loren and his wife converted their locations to the CPR - Cell Phone Repair brand by joining the CPR franchise system. They have since downsized to one location and 5 employees counting his wife who manages the day to day now since Loren has been suffering from debilitating health issues (NOTE: Loren told me he doesn't take any money out of his store to assure that his employees get paid).

He had to take a step back last year when his RA got so bad that he could no longer hold a screw driver in his hands. No more soldering and no more repair. He also suffers from an Autonomic disease that affects his heart rate, blood pressure and temperature regulation in his body and skin. Recently he has was diagnosed with another autoimmune disease called lymphocytic esophagitis causing chronic inflammation in his esophagus. All of these health conditions combined have caused him to suffer from extreme fatigue, weight loss, choking and pain. This added to his chronic back pain and nerve damage issues have led to him being totally disabled and many days bedridden due to the combination of all these issues.

MORE ABOUT HIS SITUATION FROM LOREN

I absolutely hate being in this position but we never know when our health will take a dive and mine just keeps taking hits. Seems like every few months something else pops up.

I told Sandra that right now I would compare my body to a car in which the headlights are stuck on bright all the time. I’m always running on a dead battery and the fact that I can’t do anything makes it worse.

She took a state job with a library to get us better health insurance last year and although we still own the store. We let the 4 employees run the day to day and it makes enough to pay all its expenses and pays the 4 employees. Sandra spends one day a week there double checking everything and doing the books. She pays herself a minimal amount and lets the majority of it pay the employees and expenses. When I left the store on a daily basis last year I stopped pulling any money to preserve the jobs of the employees since I couldn’t do the work anymore.

I spent a few months piddling on other projects until my body wouldn’t let me do that anymore. I started having choking issues last year around thanksgiving and it has progressively gotten worse, till I couldn’t swallow anything solid and finally went to see the doctor. He sent me to the specialist who did the scope, dilation and biopsy. The biopsy came back with the new autoimmune disease that has been affecting my esophagus and causing the chronic inflammation. So between that and all the other issues. I can barely get out of bed most days and when I can. I get to the sofa or recliner.

I have to see 4 different specialists and my primary care physician. The only one that is local is my primary doctor. All the others are either 1 hour away or two hours away. Those trips to the doctor makes me feel like I have worked a 16 hour day and a literally lay down and pass out for hours after.

I could go on but I hate to complain as bad as I hate asking for help. It’s pride I guess and I try to keep my health issues private but it’s to the point where we have used up most of our savings and tax returns that we saved and I don’t know what else to do but try to find a way to get some help. Hopefully we can get some help from the industry that we have worked so hard to make what it is today.

"I hope you can help and that you don’t look down on me for asking."

-- Loren Nunley