Not having a left hand is manageable. Loosing use of my right foot due to birth defects, however, would be a problem. After all, I don't walk on my hands.
Not having a left hand is manageable. Loosing use of my right foot due to birth defects, however, would be a problem. After all, I don't walk on my hands.
Not having a left hand is manageable. Loosing use of my right foot due to birth defects, however, would be a problem. After all, I don't walk on my hands.
Not having a left hand is manageable. Loosing use of my right foot due to birth defects, however, would be a problem. After all, I don't walk on my hands.
Not having a left hand is manageable. Loosing use of my right foot due to birth defects, however, would be a problem. After all, I don't walk on my hands.
I have worked with community groups, both as my paid job and while doing additional volunteer work, all of my adult life. The only other thing that has ever meant more to me is the time that I spend with my family. Overall life has been pretty good, but I have had one set of challenges since I was a very little girl; I was born with severe birth defects to my left hand and right foot. Doctors have never been able to find out why I have those defects.
As some of the pictures in my media gallery and updates show, my left hand lacks fingers. (That's my left hand resting on my ankle in the gallery picture with the maroon background.) It’s more difficult to see the defects in my right foot. What most people can see is that my two of my toes are joined together, but if you could look deeper you would see that the whole bone structure of my foot is very different than it should be from my ankle all the way through to my toes.
So why am I asking for help now?
Time, normal usage, and the wear and tear of six surgeries, took its toll on the ability of my deformed foot’s ability to keep me mobile. I need some help in dealing with the mounting medical bills related to recent and upcoming surgeries and to rehabilitation care so I can keep walking, hopefully for a few decades more.
About 18 months ago the abnormal structure of my right foot began to break down until I was eventually only able to walk short distances using a cane for support. Last August I had my sixth orthopedic surgery. Even with insurance through my employer I was still left with a seemingly never ending stream of medical bills. I still need ongoing physical therapy (that I can no longer afford), and I also need to get ready for the next round of surgery in a few months while also paying my portion of the costs for some interim medical procedures that started in September that are intended to decrease my daily pain.
It is so hard for me to ask anyone for help, but I don’t receive any type of assistance related to my deformities. The medical costs that they cause, however, aren’t covered by my insurance. Those costs are so high I can’t do this alone. I also know that the sooner I can get this mobility situation under control, the sooner I can turn my thoughts fully back to community work and doing whatever I can do to help my family with their needs.
I would be so happy to receive other types of help, too!
Thank you so much for reading about my campaign. Even if you can’t contribute to my campaign please share the link to this page through email or any of your social media contacts with any people who may be interested in it, too.
I would also love to receive a message from you through the comments section of this page. Sometimes a kind word can make all the difference.
Thank you again, and please check out the video posted above. My wonderfully talented son, Safety First - A.K.A Danny King, is a professional artist living in Oakland, CA. This is a live painting video of him that was taken by a now late friend of his a few years ago. Danny is providing prints of one of original pieces as a perk for my campaign at the $35 level. Thank you, Danny!
Looking for more information?Check the project
FAQ
Every little bit helps, but since your $5 contribution may encourage others to give, too, there really isn’t anything little about a $5 contribution, is there?
I’m really ready to move past some of the obstacles that have hindered my ability to fully focus on my community work and the support that I give to my aging parents. If you choose this perk for contribution of $5 or more you’ll get a great big virtual hug to thank you for helping me get this campaign off the ground.
0 out of 800 of claimed
I'll Tweet About Your Campaign
$25 USD
We all know that social media does wonders to help draw attention to crowd sourced projects!
If you choose this perk for your $25 contribution or more I'll send a tweet to my more than 1,700 Twitter/grgtt followers providing a link to the Indiegogo project of your choice, wether its yours or its one that you support.
If you would like your Twitter handle included in the tweet please provide that info when you claim your perk.
2 out of 100 of claimed
Print of Original Painting
$35 USD
In addition to a Twitter shout out for the Indiegogo campaign of your choice (see above), I’ll also mail you a copy of a signed print of an original piece of art created by my son. He is the very talented professional artist, SafetyFirst, currently out of Oakland, CA. His work makes me and many, many other people smile. I bet this print will make you smile, too. (A video of one his live painting shows is included on campaign page.)
Please provide your mailing address to receive this perk.