Rob and I have been very close friends for over 10 years and at a certain point we just started to call each other family. Although we live in different states we’ve always made a point to visit each other and talk every day. The past couple years we’ve grown closer through the world of art; he’s dedicated every day to creating and it’s incredible to see him grow in that way and inspire that growth together as artists and family. Although he’s blood family is relatively small, he’s made consistent effort to always spend time with the people he cares about. His sister Cathryn (Cacky), his nephew and niece Auggy and Pocket, his uncle and aunt Kurt and Shannon, his life long friends Tiffany and Jason, and us.
Every Wednesday he gets together with Kurt to catch up over Chinese food and to to browse a couple thrift stores- something he’s always loved doing. On the first Wednesday of June Kurt called Rob to start heading down from his studio apartment in downtown Eugene because he was there to pick him up. Rob tells Kurt that he might need help coming down because he feels like he might be having a stroke. They joke around a lot in somewhat dramatic ways so Kurt didn’t think he was serious. But shortly after getting into the car he realized that something was seriously wrong so Kurt called an ambulance for Rob to get to ICU immediately.
Once there, Rob was able to talk to the doctor and explain that he’s experienced symptoms in the past while exercising- Rob is extremely active, doesn’t own a car and rides his bike or runs and walks nearly everywhere- but he wasn't sure what they were because they didn’t last very long. Then in the middle of explaining he lost all function of his communication and motor skills. They took him into thrombotic surgery and found three clots, one in the artery to his legs that they were able to remove, one in the front left part of his brain and one in the artery leading to the brain. They unfortunately couldn’t get to the one in the brain due to the one leading up to it because it has hardened so much over time. Without being able to perform surgery to remove the clots his body’s last chance is to re-absorb the clots and re-wire blood to the part of the brain being affected.
Due to his Aphasia in the right side of his body he needs intense physical and occupational therapy and possibly long term care.
The doctors expect it to be a long road of recovery but are glad that he is still at a young age of 52, has a strong brain and body and extremely persistent. He’s not the type of person to give up. Even during his first few weeks of recovery he is still creating art and trying his best to stay positive.
Since Rob is also a very private person, his financial situation is unknown. We know he lives in a studio apartment and is a retired baker. He lives a very modest life and has never needed intense medical care, so no car, no health insurance, very minimalist lifestyle.
But because of his aphasia and the unknown of his finances he was assigned the worst health insurance policy.
The moment Cacky found out she dropped everything, took indefinite time off of work and drove from Portland to spend 100% of her time with her bobo.
She has been there every day to help him when the nurses couldn’t or wouldn’t be there. She is the most selfless person I have ever met and she would do anything to help her family.
Our biggest hope is that he has a full recovery and is able to pay for his medical expenses. We want to protect him while he can’t protect himself and we know we can’t do this on our own.
Until he’s able to make decisions for his own, Cacky and I have decided to start a fundraiser to help Rob with the medical expenses. We currently don’t know how much they will amount to, but we know how quickly they can pile up. If you can donate anything, no matter how small it may seem means A LOT to Rob, Cacky, us, and the rest of his small family and community.
The past two weeks have consistently progressed towards our goals. 
