OK, let me kick things off - I am unemployed, a single parent of two teenagers, and I just kicked in $50 via PayPal. Anyone willing to match me?
Robert McLaws
· 3 years ago
My sister (http://www.miraclemeghan.com) was in a car accident right before PDC 2005, and the doctors thought she wouldn't survive the night. She shattered her jaw in 4 places, broke her nose, broke the T2 vertebrae in her neck, and severed her windpipe. She spent 9 weeks in ICU while she healed, and now is almost as good as new. She goes in for surgery on July 10th to have her windpipe reconstructed so she can talk again.
Tim will make it. Tell him and his family that we'll be praying for them.
Joe Beda
· 3 years ago
I hear stories from Rachel (my wife) every day about horrible injuries and incredibly difficult circumstances. Sometimes they make sense (drugs + motorcycles = badness) but other times it is just dumb luck. It can really break your heart sometimes.
I really hope that Tim makes it. The trauma team at Harborview is top notch and I’m sure he is getting the best care available. (Rachel usually deals with medicine patients – heart attacks, strokes, drugs, etc). We’ll be thinking of him.
[And for the record – I don’t run the Google Talk team – I’m just a tech lead on a part of the project.]
Kristine
· 3 years ago
My heart and prayers match you kr8tr. I have no pay pal or checking. Life can be terribly frightening when there are traumatic changes of any kind. What I can send is my daily bread dish savings. This has never been empty. Ever. Even if I only have one penny in it. It always fills back up over time. Like friends. Trust. Faith.
David Dalka
· 3 years ago
My Dad's father, my grandfather, fell off a ladder and never recovered from his coma. That was a long time ago before the modern miracles of medicine of today though and it happened when he was older.
If talking to someone else who has been through a similar experience might help, please let me know and I can forward my Dad's contact info to you. You don't mention whether the kids have a Mom in the picture. Can you elaborate?
kr8tr
· 3 years ago
Trying to word this right so I don't piss off those of you that just can't afford to give, but here's the facts, sad as they are.
Scoble says thousands of people read his blog every day - as many as 10,000 on a good day. So far only one person (and yes, it was me) has kicked anything in here to help someone I don't even know. It's been over eight hours since Robert's post, so I figure at least 500 people have read this entry.
An unemployed guy from Texas trying to raise two kids on his own is not only the largest donor, but the *only* one - surely the gilded halls of Silicon Valley can do better than this!? Doesn't Bill Gates read this blog? Bill, you can match my $50!
I know many if not most of the other readers of this post are probably gainfully (some sinfully) employed. You California geeks gonna let a Texas geek out-give you?
Come on, show the love. But for a bit of bad luck, it could be you on the needing end here.
IF anyone matches my initial $50 within an hour of this comment, I'll add another $50.
kr8tr
· 3 years ago
I kicked the other $50 in anyway, even though nobody met my challenge. I figured you were all out to dinner, munching on raw tuna and stuff (hey, I know it's a stereotype, but you all (ya'll) have some interesting stereotypes of us Texans as well!)
Experience life - don't just live it!
Rob
Mike
· 3 years ago
If you were that connected, you would know Jan Nelson is male.
kr8tr
· 3 years ago
What does the sex of the person that indirectly brought this issue to our attention have to do with anything? And what does it have to do with being "connected"? And where is your donation?
Come on. Be nice.
Robert Scoble
· 3 years ago
kr8tr: I'll kick in some bucks too. Will match your $100.
Mike, sorry. Demonstrates that when assumptions get made they often are wrong.
Marc Dencker
· 3 years ago
I kicked in a $100 last week (I heard about this throught the grapevine)
Jan Nelson
· 3 years ago
I appreciate the folks who have contributed from here and elsewhere. While the contributions have not skyrocketed, I have received a touch over $1000 so far, most from an atuo enthusiast group I commune with, but let me be clear here that every donation of any size is very much appreciated.
Tim's lungs have collapsed and he is in critical condition in the ICU (again) on a ventilator under sedation. Things have gotten worse and it looks like they will stay that way for awhile. We are meetng with his landlord in a few minutes to discus how we can keep the boys in their school district and maybe in the house while Tim is recovering, what adaptations can be made to the house and if the landlord is able to assist any in providing rent releif for a bit.
Today is the middle son Tyler's 15th birthday. I am tkaing him to a party held by some folks at their church. Because Tyler has a ver ystrong desire to be a mechanic, i am giving him a toolset tonight that will start him out. Nick the oldest needs a reliable car so I am looking at taking his dad's Toyota pickup and running it through a safety check, tune-up and get whatever repairs are needed. Little Ryan needs love and answers to hard questions about all this.
If the money that comes in becomes substantial, I would like to open three trusts for the boys that assure they get the education needed to pursue their career interests. If not, then we'll pave over the divots in the path ahead.
Thanks for helping out Robert!
Jan Nelson
Garrett Fitzgerald
· 3 years ago
Stories like this are why I don't feel like I'm as badly off as it has sounded. There's always someone who's having a much harder time. :-(
All Comments
Tim will make it. Tell him and his family that we'll be praying for them.
I really hope that Tim makes it. The trauma team at Harborview is top notch and I’m sure he is getting the best care available. (Rachel usually deals with medicine patients – heart attacks, strokes, drugs, etc). We’ll be thinking of him.
[And for the record – I don’t run the Google Talk team – I’m just a tech lead on a part of the project.]
If talking to someone else who has been through a similar experience might help, please let me know and I can forward my Dad's contact info to you. You don't mention whether the kids have a Mom in the picture. Can you elaborate?
Scoble says thousands of people read his blog every day - as many as 10,000 on a good day. So far only one person (and yes, it was me) has kicked anything in here to help someone I don't even know. It's been over eight hours since Robert's post, so I figure at least 500 people have read this entry.
An unemployed guy from Texas trying to raise two kids on his own is not only the largest donor, but the *only* one - surely the gilded halls of Silicon Valley can do better than this!? Doesn't Bill Gates read this blog? Bill, you can match my $50!
I know many if not most of the other readers of this post are probably gainfully (some sinfully) employed. You California geeks gonna let a Texas geek out-give you?
Come on, show the love. But for a bit of bad luck, it could be you on the needing end here.
IF anyone matches my initial $50 within an hour of this comment, I'll add another $50.
Experience life - don't just live it!
Rob
Come on. Be nice.
Mike, sorry. Demonstrates that when assumptions get made they often are wrong.
Tim's lungs have collapsed and he is in critical condition in the ICU (again) on a ventilator under sedation. Things have gotten worse and it looks like they will stay that way for awhile. We are meetng with his landlord in a few minutes to discus how we can keep the boys in their school district and maybe in the house while Tim is recovering, what adaptations can be made to the house and if the landlord is able to assist any in providing rent releif for a bit.
Today is the middle son Tyler's 15th birthday. I am tkaing him to a party held by some folks at their church. Because Tyler has a ver ystrong desire to be a mechanic, i am giving him a toolset tonight that will start him out. Nick the oldest needs a reliable car so I am looking at taking his dad's Toyota pickup and running it through a safety check, tune-up and get whatever repairs are needed. Little Ryan needs love and answers to hard questions about all this.
If the money that comes in becomes substantial, I would like to open three trusts for the boys that assure they get the education needed to pursue their career interests. If not, then we'll pave over the divots in the path ahead.
Thanks for helping out Robert!
Jan Nelson