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As you may know, the last three years have been pretty bad for Jeff. In addition to his mother's final illness and the expenses associated with being confined to a nursing and rehabilitation facility for almost a year, Jeff suffered a breakdown after her death and later, due to his chronic back issues, Jeff required two back surgeries. All together, we have faced about $90,000 in medical bills. We have paid most of these bills, depleting our life savings as well as his mother's savings in the process, savings which had already taken a serious hit when the global economy collapsed in 2008. We had to sell our house in Maryland, moved to Oregon for a lower cost of living, sold off stocks and other assets, but we still owe about $15,000. We need a little help to get past the last of these catastrophic expenses. This is not easy for us, Jeff and I have both worked hard all our lives, we've never been wealthy, but we've been comfortable, we pay our bills, give to charities, help out friends and family members, and sometimes strangers, but three years of illness and stress have taken their toll. Those of you who know Jeff personally, know how much he does for others. He has always been the go-to guy when our friends have needed help. He is generous to others, supportive to everyone he knows, but now he needs your help. I'd like to give you a little background about Jeff. Many of you already know this, but in case you don't ...
Jeff comes from a family that gives back. His father, Lt Col John A Fields was in the army, Patton's Army, to be precise, during WWII. He fought at Normandy. He left active duty after the war and joined the Army Reserves. He was called up and fought in Korea. He later joined the DC National Guard. He was in charge of the defense of Washington, DC, during the riots after Dr Martin Luther King was assassinated. He ran the Guards Youth Leadership Camp, providing training for disadvantaged youth, for a number of years, and continued to do so well after he officially retired, continuing this activity until his death in 2005. After 9/11, we didn't see much of Dad for two or three weeks - he was at the DC Armory, coordinating defense plans in the event that the city was attacked during that uncertain time. He was 78 years old at the time.
Jeff's mom, Rubye Fields, was famous for her efforts to help others. After retiring from her position with the Federal Government, she co-founded an organization to provide job mentoring and training opportunites for minorities, Blacks In Government, or BIG. She dedicated her remaining years to this group, serving as its National President and being responsible for bringing the organization into the black for the first time in its history. But Mom preferred to stay out of the limelight. She remained active in the group until her failing health revented her attending meetings and annual conferences. That doesn't mean she wasn't involved, oh, no! Mom continued to offer her support and guidance to BIG, an organization she loved to the end, It was her final illness that depleted our savings and left us struggling to pay our own medical expenses. Her last year was spent in nursing and rehabilitation facilities, the majority of which was not covered by her health insurance.
Jeff has continued the Fields' tradition of helping others. A natural athelete, like his father before him (Dad is in the Benedict College Hall of Fame for his performances in basketball, football and baseball), Jeff has coached youth basketball for a number of years, has been a basketball referree for over twenty years and now teaches defensive driving skills to teenagers. His back injury began when his foot slipped at the beginning of a second game during a basketball tournament, badly jarring his back (and, as it turned out, rupturing a disc in his lower back). He was only supposed to referree three games that day, but due to a shortage of refs, Jeff worked eleven games that day, over the course of nearly fourteen hours with no break of more than a few minutes between games. The alternatie would have meant that some of the kids would not have been able to play their games, so Jeff continued to work despite of his back injury. Jeff continued to referree, when his injury allowed him to do so. The final injury came in another tournament, about two years later. Once again, Jeff continued to work so the kids could play their games, until an alternate referree could be found.
Jeff has worked hard his entire life, but being unable to do so for the last two years, and that coming right after we spent our life savings on his mother's end of life care, has left us unable to pay for his surgeries and treatments. It is for this reason that we are seeking help from others.
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