After five months in the ICU, Karen moved in with her mother who had to leave her job to be Karen’s full time caregiver. Even with insurance, Karen still has many uninsured illness-related expenses such as: modifications for a vehicle since she recently learned how to drive again, accessible modifications to the kitchen and bathroom, wheelchair accessibility in and out of the house, speciality doctor visits, and tooling aids to help with daily tasks. Karen hopes to return to work one day, but all these expenses will not be something she can financially handle even with returning to work.

Recently Karen was faced with yet another challenge, when her brand-new prosthetic arms were stolen right off her front porch. An out of state company shipped the package, containing Karen’s high tech prosthetic arms and supplies to her home. The value for everything shipped was well over $80,000. Unfortunately, there was no insurance, no signature required, and no fair warning the arms were even being sent by the shipper. Due to the fact no signature was required and Karen had no prior knowledge of the package being sent; the box was left by the shipping company on the front porch when no one was home. The alleged thieves not only took items that were high in cost, but more importantly very valuable for Karen’s future and independence. The arms were especially fitted and customized for over a year to fit Karen alone. No one can sell or even wear the arms besides her. Despite many efforts made by Karen, her family, and friends to get the box returned back to her home, no one came forward to return her prosthetic arms.

To help offset such expenses, a fundraising campaign in Karen’s honor has been established with HelpHOPELive, a nonprofit organization that has been assisting the transplant community for 30 years. In 2000, they expanded their mission to include those who have sustained a catastrophic injury or more recently, a catastrophic illness. All contributions are tax-deductible, are held by HelpHOPELive in the Southwest Catastrophic Illness Fund, and are administered by HelpHOPELive for illness-related expenses only.

Karen is in good spirits and is filled with optimism as she continues to strive to become fully independent. We are all inspired by her strength, dedication, and perseverance. Please keep Karen in your prayers. With the support of her family and friends, we can help Karen reach her dreams and inspire in her a flame of courage that will burn brightly through the challenges that lie ahead.

The Friends and Family of Karen Crespo