UPDATES ON KARA LEACH'S RECOVERY (THANKS TO YOU!)

Many of you have written to us privately to inquire about the health and progress of Kara Leach following her dangerous but very successful surgery back on August 10th. First, we’d like to thank each of you for your thoughts, concerns, and incredibly generous donations to Kara’s medical fund. And Kara also wanted to share her thoughts with you here.

To each and every one of you who contributed to my medical fundraising campaign,

I am deeply moved and eternally grateful for your donations as well as your kind words of love and support. Because of you, I was able to have this life-changing surgery and I am feeling better every day. I’m finally on the road to recovery thanks to each of you. You have also given me the gift of hope and encouragement in a very difficult time. I am so grateful for your support.

  They say it takes a village, and you’re part of that village. Thank you for helping me when I needed it most.

Warm Regards and Gratitude,

Kara

As you will learn here, Kara is making great strides toward recovery, but the road continues to be long, and not-so-smoothly paved. And you will understand why we need to continue raising funds to further her progress and cover a variety medical and non-medical costs directly related to her condition.

 As most of you know, Kara underwent a successful surgery to fuse the C1 and C2 vertebrae at the very top of her spine on August 10, thanks to you! After two long weeks of recovery in Washington, D.C., Kara returned home to New Orleans, only to be rudely greeted by Hurricane Ida. After just three days of settling back into their home, Kara and Ron packed a bag, and their two dogs, and headed to Arkansas – Hope, Arkansas to be exact – to escape the wrath of Ida. Another expense neither predicted but more importantly, an unwelcomed journey that jeopardized the progress Kara had made up to this point.

Fortunately, Kara was able to transfer medical prescriptions, including pain relief medication, to a local pharmacy in Arkansas and was able to remain idle once reaching their temporary destination.

Finally, back at home in New Orleans, Kara continues to make slow, but remarkable progress as she builds strength in her neck (and mind). But medical and non-medical expenses continue to mount and in November, they both head back to Washington, D.C. for Kara’s 3-month follow-up with her surgeons. While incredibly grateful to even be in the position of follow-ups and PT sessions, Kara and Ron realize that with it comes mounting costs. Airline tickets, a multi-night hotel stay, transportation, and meals are only a few of the additional out of pocket and non-reimbursable expenses associated with their trip to D.C. next month.

We will reopen our online auction page later today and ask that you please share Kara and Ron’s story with your friends and share our auction page (https://www.32auctions.com/Creatives4Kara). In addition, we respectfully ask you to share our donation page with friends and family -- https://fundrazr.com/KaraNeedsSurgery,

Words could never express how much we appreciate your prayers, encouragement, and generosity over the past few months. But as Kara and Ron continue to move toward a more normal life, they could use a bit more of each.

For those unfamiliar with Ron and Kara’s story, please continue reading below.

Thank you!

For those who are not aware of our fundraising initiative, it has one simple goal -- to raise as much money as possible to help fund needed surgery and post-operative therapies for Kara Leach, a great friend and wife of Ron Leach, an influential member of the photo industry for more than 40 years.

Now that we have successfully completed Phase I of our fundraising efforts by collecting $20,000 to secure her operation, we continue Phase II with a fundraising goal of $40,000 (we began with a goal of $60,000 but have achieved 1/3 of our goal).

As a quick background about our mission, for the past few years Ron Leach has not been able to work full time because he has been caring for his wife Kara who is suffering from a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS). In lay terms, Kara’s body does not properly process collagen, which is literally the glue that holds our bodies together and as such, directly affects her ligaments, joints, muscles, skin, and organs. Everything.

Kara is a graphic designer but has not been able to work for quite some time due to her illness. While she has been suffering for several years and has seen doctors and specialists during this time, it wasn’t until two years ago that Kara was properly diagnosed with EDS by a geneticist. Because EDS affects the entire body there are many complications that can arise from it, most notably Atlantoaxial Instability (AAI), which is Kara’s most dangerous battle right now.

Kara’s two top vertebrae (C1 and C2) were very unstable because of damage to her ligaments which can no longer fully support the weight of her head. Living with constant, often debilitating pain and even the possibility of stroke due to brain stem compression, they recently met with a neurosurgeon (Dr. Henderson) in Washington, D.C. He is one of only two in the U.S. specializing in performing this complex, high-risk but vital procedure on patients with EDS. The procedure is called “C1-C2 Stabilization/Fusion.” Her neck will be stabilized using harvested bone marrow from her hip and titanium hardware.

Thanks to so many kind and generous people, surgery was successfully completed on August 10th but the cost of the surgeons alone (more than $90,000), is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of additional expenses. Travel expenses, lodging, food, extended-stay hospitalization, and rehab costs will reach an estimated $60,000 out-of-pocket cost to Ron and Kara, if not more.

In addition to this Fundrazr page (https://fundrazr.com/KaraNeedsSurgery) and with the help and outpouring support from so many amazing friends in the photographic industry, we have created a silent auction filled with some of the most memorable moments in time captured by some of the most renowned photographers in the history of photography. You can visit our online auction Creatives4Kara and bid on some amazing works of art and other items while helping Ron and Kara collect the additional, post-operative funds needed for a full recovery and avoid bankruptcy and financial ruin.

Every photograph or artwork available in this auction is an original print created, printed, and signed by each artist. Over time, additional works-of-art and items of interest will be added to the auction so you never know what will be available for bidding. Every opening (minimum) bid in the auction was recommended by the people who donated each item. Items not reaching the minimum bid will be removed from the auction and potentially available for bidding later.

We are so grateful to all our friends who have reached out to support Ron and Kara Leach with auction items and well wishes. We understand that everyone does not have the financial means to bid on some of these items, which is why we also created this FundRazr page for Kara. No donation is too small.

There are some amazing items up for auction so please check it out. Many thanks again to so many wonderful people. Please help however you can.

Lou Desiderio / Scott Heath

Synergy Communications

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