Together for Donnie Skaggs: A Fight for Recovery

Dear Friends and Family,

Our beloved dad, Donnie Skaggs, has been fighting a severe leg infection and its complications in the hospital since early on Father's Day. The journey has been fraught with uncertainty and fear, but we refuse to let despair take hold.

Late last Saturday night, our mom Rose noticed that Donnie was confused and disoriented, she called the ambulance. She took his temperature when calling 911, and it was 99 degrees. When the paramedics arrived, it was 102, and by the time they got to the hospital in Lebanon, it was 104. Needless to say, this was a very scary time.

Donnie was rushed into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at VUMC Wilson County, where he remained until Monday when he was transferred to a Step Down unit. Currently, he is stable, but his pain persists, and his mobility is greatly limited.

Once he is discharged from the hospital, he will go to a skilled nursing facility to have physical rehabilitation. Our hope is that this will help him regain mobility and independence that he has lost gradually over time due to his condition. The cost of this initial hospital stay and the ongoing costs of rehabilitation and home health assistance are beyond what my family is able to manage. It was at the point of understanding the long road to recovery when we realized that we needed help from our community.

Our mom, Donnie’s wife, Rose Skaggs, works in the Cascades Restaurant at Opryland Hotel as a restaurant server. Since Rose works for tips and is the primary earner in the household, she is having to make the hard choice between working to earn tips or stay in the hospital with Donnie. Donations to this campaign would allow Rose to spend time supporting Donnie’s recovery by making up for her lost tips and wages in addition to helping cover medical expenses that are not covered by their insurance.

My sister, Hannah Guthrie and her husband Timothy live in Knoxville, TN, where they both work as staff at the University of Tennessee. I liven Columbus, Ohio with my fiancé David Carlson, where I am an assistant professor at Ohio State. While we have been fortunate enough to all travel to Nashville and support Donnie's treatment in the short term, we regrettably cannot remain by his side throughout the entirety of his rehabilitation, which could span several weeks.

I think that many of you know Donnie and love him as a friend, family member, or as someone who knows of him as a musician, a master gardener, or as a fabulous barbecue pitmaster. Donnie has been a Nashville songwriter since the 1980’s and has a long history of working as a studio musician and on the production side in music.

Unfortunately, for years, he has battled complications stemming from lymphedema, and the pandemic further complicated his condition, hindering access to necessary therapy and exacerbating his pain. The combination of these challenges has made it impossible for him to work. Unfortunately, since he has been self-employed for most of his life, he doesn't qualify for programs like disability. This has been hard on our family, as many of you know.

While we grapple with the anguish of seeing him hospitalized, we are so grateful that this hospital stay marks the beginning of his path to recovery. Donnie has always been fiercely self-reliant, but circumstances have brought him to a point where he needs to seek help—something greater than himself. In fact, the opening lines of one of Donnie's songs, "Something Stronger Than Me," resonate deeply with us in this situation:

"I always took pride standing on my own two feet

I never leaned on anyone but me

And I'm not braggin' but there's been times

When I've looked the devil in the eye and never blinked

But tonight, yeah tonight

I need something stronger than I've got to offer

Don't know if I've ever felt this weak

If I'm gonna make it without breakin' down on this dead end street

I need somethin' stronger than me"