There are so many words I could use to describe my husband Kevin, but one that truly encapsulates his spirit, who he is as a person, is the word 'strong'. My husband has always been a strong man. And similar to how steel is made stronger by going through fire, he has been made stronger by the fires he's gone through in his life. But the problem with being strong is, sometimes you don't know how to ask for help. But even the strongest people face times when they will need the strength of others to get them through. And that's where we are today. Kevin is currently facing more than I could imagine asking someone to face. I believe that many people would find one of these situations incredibly difficult to work through all by itself, much less all of them happening at once, like it is for him. First, after a very long battle with several severe medical issues & following a rapid decline in her health, his mother passed away on Saturday, 4/5/25. During the week prior in the hospital, & 5 days before in hospice, Kevin rarely left her side. But on Wednesday, 4/2, he had to be rushed to the ER in excruciating back pain. It turns out he had a partially slipped disc, but he also had a very serious infection & was suffering from septicemia. The infection had spread from both his feet & lower left leg as a result of an injury he'd received in an earlier work-related accident. Unfortunately, Kevin also has a medical condition that prevented his feet from healing correctly, & he was much sicker than any of us knew. On Monday, 4/7, Kevin underwent 2 life-altering (& ultimately life-saving) surgeries. He had a trans-metatarsal amputation (TMA) of his right foot, & a below-knee amputation (BKA) of his left leg. While the surgeries went exceptionally well, Kevin still has a challenging & intricate road ahead of him. His employer eliminated his position just before Christmas '24, which inspired him to start his own commercial/residential pool construction & renovation company in January '25. This also meant the loss of his health coverage. Individual plans & dependent coverage were more expensive than we could afford since he was just starting his company. Unfortunately, his mom had also fallen on some incredibly hard financial times & had let her life insurance lapse. So now, we are facing some enormous financial burdens between his mother's final arrangements, his surgeries & current hospital stay, & the road to recovery & prosthetics that are ahead of us. We are also currently taking care of our niece & nephew in addition to our 3 children after they became homeless when Kevin's mother lost her house in mid-2024. Normally, we aren't people who ask for or accept much help. But with the extraordinary series of events that have, are, & will happen, we know we need it now. We need our family, friends, & community now more than ever before. I believe with all my heart & soul that Kevin is going to recover. He's already fighting with everything he has to walk again, & he will do everything in his power to return to work as fast as possible. But in the meantime, we would greatly appreciate any love, support, care, & encouragement you can send his way. Please don't feel obligated to contribute monetarily, but if you do feel so moved, please know any financial gifts will go to cover the household & medical bills during this time. Please feel free to reach out with any positive thoughts, support, encouragement, love, & kindness to help Kevin continue to successfully navigate his road to recovery.