Kelowna’s Randy and Karen Lachmuth were visiting Australia in January for their daughter’s wedding, when tragedy struck.
“During a regular outing to the beach Randy incurred a serious spinal injury from being in the ocean,” reads a GoFundMe page set up by Sawchuk Crone. “Once he was stabilized, he was brought back to Canada and has been healing at the Vancouver General Hospital, Spinal Cord Injury unit since February.”
Karen, his wife, has been by his side and incurring a major monthly cost to stay in Vancouver to be close to Randy and provide the only support system he has.
“With Randy’s bound determination and insurmountable spirit, he is working his hardest to get to his second phase of rehabilitation at GF Strong despite his many daily challenges,” said Crone.
READ MORE: GOFUNDME FOR FIRE FAMILY
“The ultimate goal is to get Randy home in Kelowna, to his family and friends. He will be training these next several months for the biggest race of his life.”
With this new journey, Randy will require several items to bring him home and provide daily mobility. A customized wheelchair for Randy’s injury will be a minimum of $25,000. A transportation van costs a bare minimum of $35,000.
“In speaking with Randy’s family, friends and coworkers, we can all agree he is the most genuine, caring, kind, fun loving spirit we have encountered,” said Crone.
“We feel blessed for having him in our lives and he has always been the person to lend a hand to his community without a second thought. Randy is a person of integrity, who would never ask a person for anything, yet will give unconditionally of himself. We, as his friends, know that it is our turn for us to give back to him. To show our support, love and undeniable friendship, our goal is to raise a minimum of $55,000 to cover some of the costs they will be incurring. These items are necessary and will assist Randy in his daily healing journey.”
Here’s a link to the GoFundMe campaign.
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