Life after death

After a lifetime struggle with her disabilities, Michelle Hillman passed away at age 54 on Jan 6, 2023, leaving her disabled son, Joshua (26), struggling to survive.

She was diagnosed with learning disabilities in elementary school and discovered that she had scoliosis (curvature of the spine) in her teen years. The scoliosis was progressing at a rapid pace, and she was told that she may be paralyzed for life.

She suffered from severe headaches for years and, believing that her scoliosis caused them, refused to see anyone about her pain. Having endured unpleasant medical encounters and oral surgeries in her youth, she refused medical intervention for many ailments, ignoring family encouragement to the contrary. She grew more and more reclusive, cutting herself off from family and friends while her headaches grew much more severe.

On Dec 23, 2022, at 1:30 AM, Joshua found her in the bathroom, and she was horribly sick. Though she claimed she was all right, he called 911, and the EMTs took her to St Vincent Hospital in Beaverton, Oregon. Examination showed that Michelle had a brain aneurysm, extensive bleeding, and pressure was building to a dangerous level in her head.

They operated on her later the same day to relieve the pressure and repair the ruptured blood vessel. But in doing so, they found much more damage. They decided to drain as much blood as possible and allow her brain to return to normal before doing any additional surgery.

After MRIs and intravenous investigation, the doctors found that Michelle had multiple swollen blood vessels in her head. Attempts to reduce the swelling did not work, and pressure on her brain increased hourly. When Michelle started having multiple strokes per day, there was nothing that the doctors could do. On Thursday, Jan 6, 2023, Michelle passed away.

Her death was a tragic end to a tragic life.

Despite Michelle’s difficulties, she married Larry Williamson, who also had learning disabilities. In 1996, Michelle gave birth to Joshua, and there was much joy. But six years later, Joshua was also diagnosed with learning disabilities.

Larry began to suffer from serious depression over continually having to ask for assistance with written tasks, computers, and technology. Becoming more and more frustrated with his situation, he took his own life on February 14, 2009. Joshua, at the tender age of 12, discovered his father’s body. Fourteen years later, he still has nightmares of the event, and now, two holidays are markers of the worst experiences of Joshua’s young life.

We are working to provide Joshua with a better future than his parents had. While Joshua’s disabilities prevent him from reading beyond an elementary level, and his math skills and ability to comprehend forms preclude many jobs, he has shown proficiency in manual jobs.

Joshua is working with Vocational Rehab and the Washington County Developmental Disabilities Department to develop skills and abilities that will enable him to have a successful work experience. It is an ongoing process and may take months to complete. We are hopeful that with continued support, he will succeed.

Here is his situation:

1. After years of receiving disability, Social Security has terminated Josh’s disability payments. We are appealing their decision, but the process may take months or years.

2. Josh is currently unemployed and looking for work, but all of his past positions were part-time jobs at minimum wage and less than 30 hours a week – not enough to live on.

3. We are searching for shared housing that he can afford, but all of the facilities have long waiting lists that may take months to find something.

4. Josh is working with Vocational Rehab and Washington County Developmental Disabilities to find a place to live and get training to expand his abilities, and skills to handle daily life functions like cooking, cleaning, etc.

Our Goal: Raise $10,400, to be used as follows:

Cover the cost of the ambulance and final expenses for Michelle.

Counseling to enable Josh to deal with her loss.

Cover living costs for six months while Joshua gets additional training.

Cover relocation costs – he must leave the place he shared with his mother for over 20 years.

We greatly appreciate donations of any size in an attempt to provide financial support for this young man who has lost so much. Thank you for your consideration and generosity.