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Wesley & Audrey Bonafe' We need help!

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Hi friends and family,
Let me start out by saying how difficult this is for me to ask for help. I have always been determined to do things on my own and I am not one who likes to give up too easily. Wesley and I always worked hard and struggled through life together. It hasn't always been easy for us, but we worked together to get through it. We have been married for 43 years. We got married when I was only 17 years old and he was 22. I got married so young to get away from a very abusive family situation. Although I was only 17, I earned enough money to pay for a down payment on our first home. It was a dump, but we made it home. Wesley was always a hard worker and a wonderful provider. He slowly earned his degree in engineering and became the Director of Engineers at a big firm. Neither of us is afraid of hard work and doing what is necessary to provide for our family. We raised three sons, and we are now grandparents of 4 of the best and most beautiful grandchildren.
We have had a series of tough life challenges over the years and many setbacks. In 2007 Wesley developed a brain tumor that left him slightly handicapped and he lost several jobs because of it. He didn't qualify for disability then, but he did get a job he was able to do however our income dropped about 75%. It's been very hard to keep our home through all the financial struggles and that is why I am asking for help now. Wesley loves our home and all of our funds are depleted.
On July 30, 2022. Wesley went into the ER after one of many falls in a 24-hour period. He also had a bad headache that went on for weeks.
I didn't think much about it, because he is kind of clumsy anyway because of the first brain tumor surgery. But this time he was more clumsy than usual.
We found that Wesley had a MASSIVE brain bleed. It was so bad that it pressed into the brain and pushed his brain in on the entire left side. He had surgery to remove the blood the next day. After his surgery, he seemed fine. He was able to talk although he couldn't recall some words. A day or two later, he stopped answering our questions and just stared through us. Then he went to sleep and became totally non-responsive. His brain swelled and the doctors needed to remove the skull to take pressure off the brain. Wesley started having seizures one right after the other. Each day was worse than the next. On top of that, Wesley developed pneumonia and he needed to be intubated.
After 5 days, he came out of the coma but is not able to speak, he can't form the right words or use his fine motor skills so he can't write to tell us what he needs. He isn't able to walk or feed himself either.
All this happened at the same time my 8-year-old Aerial studio space I leased was sold and I needed to move out. I wasn't able to find another studio that I could lease or buy because the prices are so much more than what I was paying. I moved out and am temporarily subleasing another studio although I lost many clients because of the move.
Because my studio is actually losing money, I have no income to make the house payment or pay the other bills. I'm asking for any help you can give. I need to come up with a plan to be able to pay for the house myself.
I feel Wesley will recover at some point, I just know it will take time and lots of physical therapy. I don't know if he will be able to work again. I need to prepare myself to be able to pay the bills and the house payment. I need to be able to care for Wesley when he comes home from the hospital. I have a plan to start a dog sitting business and to convert one of our rooms over the garage into an apartment to bring in some extra income.
I need help to install a fence to start the dog sitting business at my home while I stay home with Wesley. I also need help installing a wheelchair ramp. I'm willing and able to help do the work along with them. I just need someone that can design it and knows how to build the apartment and install the fence. Wesley used to be able to do it all. Now he can't.
I know we all have tough times from time to time. I hope that one day, I am able to help someone else that may be in a similar situation as me.
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Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $100 
    • 3 mos
  • Nancy Rager
    • $100 
    • 1 yr
  • Bob Pierce
    • $100 
    • 1 yr
  • Anonymous
    • $25 
    • 1 yr
  • Anonymous
    • $50 
    • 1 yr
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Organizer

Audrey Bonafe
Organizer
Powhatan, VA

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