To All It May Concern,
Ever since I
knew Tiffanie, she wanted to be a writer and a poet. She always had goals: to lose weight, to get
a high paying job, to even have her own business providing women with beauty
cosmetics. Tiffanie has always been the
life of the event! She has a since of
humor that everyone can enjoy; whenever she went out, whether to walk in the
park (which she did frequently) or just to go out shopping, she’d always invite
someone and everyone enjoyed her company.
Now those things that she loved and enjoyed, including her dreams, seem
to be placed on a back-self. My sister,
a person of Juvenal diabetes since she was six, found herself having trouble
walking at the age of 32. She later found great pain in her legs and
could only walk a few blocks. Soon after she found it was just too difficult
to walk and we took her in to the hospital to receive care.
We then
discovered she had wounds that were not going away and her nerves were no
longer functioning for her in her legs. The
Doctor informed her about viruses that have been mortally attacking her
body. Tiffanie was very concerned for
her life, but the family came together and we prayed; many people came to
encourage my sister also during this time.
My sister resolved that she would fight. The Doctor who informed us about her wound
reluctantly mentioned that Tiffanie had two choices: undergo surgery to have her two legs no more,
or go through surgery to deal with the infection and have an artificial artery
placed in her leg. The latter surgery
would be very complicated and she may lose her life, because Tiffanie was also
experiencing anemia from lose of blood, heart failure due to fluid in her body
and lungs, and very high blood sugar due to the virus attacking her body.
Tiffanie found
great courage and decided to go through with the bypass surgery and it was
successful!
Now for the past
year my sister has not ridden a bike, visited the mall, dated a boyfriend, or
seen a movie in a movie theater. My
sister has been in and out of hospitals for over a year now. Whenever I see her she shows so much bravery;
she is always smiling and joking in good spirit. Just with this year my sister has been
through so much: over eight surgeries -angioplasty, bypass, artificial artery,
open heart surgery, wound surgeries fought off at least 5 viruses, and receiving
life-blood donations for constant loss of blood and high blood condition. My
sister is a fighter, but the bills from all the surgeries left my sister financial
overwhelmed! We observed the bills and
found that what my sister owes is more than what she can afford. We concluded that in order for my sister to comfortably
fight for her life, we need to do what we can and lift off the financial burden
from her. Companies have dropped charges
against her after unknowingly accusing her for insufficient funds. Now we want
to send a notice for another charge…a charge concerning the debt of love and
support for our beloved sister!
Our family loves
my sister; none of us have the immediate means to pay off all her hospital
bills, but we are a praying people, a people of faith, and we believe that if
we ask we shall receive. We are asking
for your support!
My sister
inspires so many of us. Every October I
think about my sister. When I was little
on Halloween, I was walking back home so excited to go home and have some of
the candy I had gathered from the evening, but as I was approaching, a teenager
jumped out of a car, literally snatching my bag from out my hands! I crying at home empty handed when my sister,
Tiffanie looked at me and without hesitation just gave me her bag full of
candy. I was very young, but I knew she
didn’t have to do this at all; this was truly an act of love. Now, it’s our turn to give back to my sister
who always gave unconditionally. It’s
our turn to help lift this financial burden off of my sister! She inspires my family in so many ways: she encourages my sister and my mom to eat
healthy; they already lost over 115 pounds together on weight watchers. She helped and inspired me to run my first
marathon in 2010 after realizing the privilege that so many of us have, the
privilege to stand. I could run in
Detroit and then again in Seoul, Korea 2012.
My sister still has dreams and
many aspirations, poems and books inside of her. I’m not asking that we give all of our time,
all of our work, all of our resources, I’m only asking we give a little and the
rest will go a long way to help give my sister a chance to make these dreams possible in her
life. Our goal is to raise 100,000
dollars and together I know this is possible!
Our hope is so that my sister will not have to pay another bill for a
long time in her life. She can also get
the physical theory needed to gain feeling back to her legs, get released from
the advanced hospital and live comfortably in her own apartment. My sister is one of the hardest working
people I know; now it’s our turn. We will work hard with love for her! Please join me in fundraising for her.
We humbly ask for you
support.
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