Nick Kerns

Please Help. I’ve never been one to ask for help I appreciate any help I can get.

My name is Nick Kerns, a 55-year-old father and grandfather suffering from Multiple Sclerosis (MS). There was a time I felt like I was living the American dream. I had a good job and I had my health I owned my own house so I considered myself lucky. That was until October 3, 1993. I woke up and couldn’t walk – numb from the waist down. At the time I worked construction so I assumed I pulled something in my lower back. After a month’s rest things seemed to improve but just three short months later I had a second episode. I awoke unable to walk,blind in my left eye and couldn’t use my left arm. This time I knew I had to consult a doctor. After multiple MRIs and a spinal tap I was diagnosed with MS. Not knowing anything about the disease I knew my life would never be the same.

I was the type of person that never took my health for granted. I never smoked, drank, or used drugs. But despite living a healthy lifestyle I learned you can lose it regardless. I’ve gone through relapses where I lost my vision, couldn’t walk, talk, or hold simple things like a cup of coffee. Unfortunately the relapses were so often since the onset, I recovered very little of what I lost.

In the 22 years since my diagnoses, I’ve been on several different medications.These are not a cure. For some they slow the progression. For me I suffered the worst possible side effects including heart damage. I’m no longer taking anything because of the severe side effects.

Today I have severe muscle atrophy on my right side hip and leg. I have limited movement of my right hand and arm & with loss of muscle mass on my ribs. It makes it rough to sit up for any amount of time. I’m almost blind in my right eye. I have to be careful of what I eat due to difficulty swallowing. The most recent tests show I’m now in stage two progressive relapse meaning I will continue to get worse without a relapse.

There was a time you couldn’t keep me indoors. I was an avid hunter and fisherman and worked out almost every day.

I long for a time when I have my health back and can enjoy life again. Now, there is a possibility to do just that. I am a perfect candidate for stem cell replacement therapy and the treatment center has had fantastic results halting and repairing damage using your own stem cells. My life could dramatically change for the better because of it! I would be able to live to live not to just to exist. God only knows how long we’re here for . This treatment is not covered by Medicare and is very costly roughly $10,000. I cannot face this challenge on my own. I need your help.

To help with the financial burden of these uninsured expenses, a fundraising campaign in my honor has been established with Help Hope Live, a trusted nonprofit organization that has been providing community-based fundraising guidance to patients & their families for more than 30 yrs. All donations are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law, are held by Help Hope Live in the Mid-Atlantic Catastrophic Illness Fund, & are administered by Help Hope Live for illness-related expenses only. Please consider a contribution.

For credit card contributions, please select the Donate Now button on this page or call 800.642.8399. Or:

Make checks payable to:
Help Hope Live

Note in memo section
In honor of Nick Kerns

Please send to:
Help Hope Live
2 Radnor Corporate Center
100 Matsonford Road, Suite 100
Radnor, PA 19087

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