Help for Vanessa

For my birthday, I'm asking for a gift for someone else.

On the morning of September 27, Vanessa Teeters was involved in a terrible car accident in Las Vegas. Those of you who've known me for a long time may know my cousins - Melissa, Melinda and Paul, who all attended the Academy for a time. Vanessa is Paul's daughter by marriage. I've known her since she was just a young girl. She moved off to Las Vegas some time ago.

This was a rollover accident, and Vanessa was ejected from the vehicle. Her back was, essentially, crushed. While she survived, Vanessa is now in the hospital, on her second surgery, and is paralyzed from the waist down. Such news is devastating enough, but hurts more for such a young, beautiful girl in the prime of her life.

Particularly one with no medical insurance.

Obviously we can't do too much about the bigger costs, but an immediate concern is trying to get her transferred home to Sacramento, to UCD Med Center. There's apparently some cost involved in this, and funds the family doesn't have.

There's a fundraiser going on this Saturday, October 17th, between 2:00pm and 8:00pm at a bar in Roseville called Trocadero. I plan to be there around 6:00pm. This is the day before my birthday. So if anyone wants to drop in, wish me a happy birthday and have a drink or two, and give a little something to the Vanessa fund, I'd really love to see you there.

Trocadero

314 Lincoln St, Roseville, CA

(916) 783-7892 ‎

If you can't make it there, but would still like to offer your support, there are a couple of ways. There's a donation account set up for Vanessa at SAFE Credit Union. The account number is 451636. Any local Sac people can drop into any SAFE location (such as the one at 3720 Madison Avenue in North Highlands) and make a donation, but you will need to have the account number on you to do so.

Or, as an alternative, you can go to PayPal and punch in my email address (oconnellmd@aol.com) and make a donation, and I'll get the money over to Paul to add to the fund.

If you can make it, I'd love to see all of you there, and seeing everyone would be the best birthday gift I could imagine. My family would really appreciate the help, too. Thank you all. And please...drive safe.