Maui man raises funds for girlfriend who was paralyzed | News, Sports, Jobs

Jessica Gallagher has been rehabilitating in North Carolina since a “freak wave accident” on Sept. 11, 2022, while she was wading off the shore of North Carolina, said Maui boyfriend David Dunn, who created a GoFundMe page last month to raise funds for medical expenses and equipment.

Immediately noticing she couldn’t move or feel her legs after getting hit with a wave and falling over a sand bank, Gallagher’s sister and nephew had to pull her out of the water, Dunn said Wednesday.

Dunn, who was born and raised on Maui, said that he met Gallagher four years ago while she was stationed at Maui Memorial for six months. Separately, he’s been trying to save enough money to reunite with his girlfriend, too, by staying on island and cleaning homes.

“She is in desperate need of help for so many reasons, mostly caused by the serious financial burden of this kind of injury and the struggle with her horrible insurance policy, which should never be the case for a medical professional of almost a decade now that’s worked throughout the country providing care to so many during the covid pandemic and beyond,” Dunn wrote on the GoFundMe page. “This is about doing everything I can do to help someone I care about more than anything in this life that desperately needs more help and medical equipment than I can provide right now.”

In addition to losing feeling and function of limbs below her chest, Gallagher deals with chronic pain, severe and extreme muscle spasms, autonomic dysfunction, temperature dysregulation, risk of pressure ulcers and other secondary health complications, according to the GoFundMe page.

Dunn said all donations will go directly toward equipment costs, such as a wheelchair, standing frame or other medical supplies, as well as hospital bills.

So far, over $11,300 has been raised of the $25,000 goal.

For more information or to donate, visit gofund.me/9c5d

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