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The Bella Tucker Fund
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You think you have it bad? Maybe you do, but I’m sure 99.9% of your stories are not as unfortunate as what has happened to an 8 year old girl from Londonderry, NH named Bella Tucker.
Who is Bella Tucker?
Bella is an 8 year old third grader who was a budding gymnastics star, loved to ride her bike and listen to music, liked going to school and hanging out with her friends, and is now going to be confined to a wheelchair without her own arms and legs for the rest of her life.
A cute little girl with long blond hair, Bella attended South School Elementary in Londonderry, New Hampshire and was a talented member of the Phantom Gymnastics team. Maybe she will do those things again one day, but for now she is confined to a hospital bed at the Children’s Hospital in Boston. She and her family need all the help they can get.
What Happened to Bella Tucker?
 Bella Tucker |
Easter Sunday 2010 was going to be a fun-filled day with egg hunts, jelly beans, and Easter dinner with family. As the day progressed Bella began to feel under the weather; she eventually developed a fever and had the chills.
She went to bed early with what appeared to be flu symptoms, but woke up early in the morning with a fever of 103, complaining that her hands and feet were cold. Bella’s step-dad rushed her to the local emergency room, where doctors said she needed to be transferred by helicopter to Boston Children’s Hospital.
No one could have guessed what would happen next; Bella and her family would never be the same.
Surviving Streptococcus Pneumoniae Sepsis
With a temperature that peaked at a whopping 105.8 degrees, doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital initially figured she might have meningitis. They were wrong. Two days later Bella was diagnosed with streptococcus pneumoniae sepsis, a rare form of pneumonia that had stopped the flow of oxygen to her arms and legs.
With a 10% survival rate for streptococcus pneumoniae sepsis, the future did not look good.
Doctors placed Bella into a drug-induced coma, no one could be sure if she would ever regain consciousness. After 5 days she emerged from her coma, but her body had already sustained severe tissue damage.
The Aftermath of the Illness
On April 27th, doctors carried out a quadruple amputation; they had to take her arms and legs. To date she has lost both legs, her right arm up to the elbow, and her left arm halfway up her bicep. Bella has endured 4 surgeries, with more to come. She may lose the rest of her arms as well if her body cannot rid itself of infection and heal her wounds completely.
Bella now faces months, if not years, of extensive rehabilitation. She must learn how to function without arms or legs, and will probably have to learn to use prosthetics. Fortunately, she has the loving support of her family.
Bella’s mother, Selena Roarty, loves her daughter very much and is thankful that Bella is alive:
“Sometimes she’s sad; she doesn’t understand why this happened to her, but she’s a strong little girl. We have no doubt at all she will overcome this. We don’t want to tell her she can’t do anything.”
Facing Financial Hardship
Bella’s family; consisting of her mom, her step-dad, 3 older brothers and one younger sister; face hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical costs, and they may have to foreclose on their home. Even if they are able to keep their home, they will have to pay for extensive modifications, including the installation of an elevator as the home is not suitably constructed for a wheelchair ramp.
Bella’s mother will need to be by Bella’s side nearly 24×7 during the rehab process, so she will be unable to work and the family will lose a significant portion of income. They will also have to place the other children into daycare at times, as Bella’s step-dad must continue to work.
Most of Bella’s family’s living expenses have been paid thus far with their savings and through the generosity of others, but the savings account will eventually run out. So far the citizen of Londonderry have raised $10,000 through fund-raising and charities, but the elevator installation alone was quoted at $30,000. Bella’s family needs lots of help.
Please Help Project Swole Help Bella Tucker
I will ask you now if you could please help me help Bella. This donation button will donate money directly into the PayPal fund setup by BellaTucker.org.
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The Bella Tucker Fund
Please Help |
This is not like someone’s house burning down, where insurance will buy them a new house. Nor is this an international tragedy, where countries all over the world will pitch in and help. This is a local tragedy about a girl who has lost her arms and legs; whose family must bare this hardship for the rest of her life.
Please help me help Bella and her family, even if you can only donate $10, anything is better than nothing. If you choose to make a donation please leave a comment to let us know, and feel free to leave a link back to your website if you’d like to promote something.
Be sure to leave your sentiments for Bella either in the comments here or on the guest book page at BellaTucker.org.
I am also working with the American Kenpo Academy in Londonderry, NH to promote their Kick-a-Thon, which will attempt to raise additional money for The Bella Tucker Fund.
The Kick-a-Thon will be held on June 5th 2010 at 3pm at American Kenpo Academy. Donate some money then if you want or sponsor a kicker.
Tags: bella tucker, charity, donate, fund raiser, Kids, Medical, medicine, pneumonia
We heard about Bella at our grandaughters dance recital where they had a 50/50 raffle for her. My daughter-in-law emailed her story to us. I was very touched. I have fowarded it to about 20 friends and will try to spread the word here in Massachusetts. I think it would be great if you had a bank with an account set up for her so people could foward a donation directly to a bank. Many people don’t like using a credit card on line and American Kenpo Acadeny is not familiar to residents of Massachusetts. It is some of the feedback I have received already. Steve it is a great thing you are trying to do for this family & I hope I can help in some small way.
You can always just go to bellatucker.org and send in your donation that way. The donate button on this site sends the money directly to bellatucker.org, not American Kenpo Academy.
I love the human spirit of this article of helping others in time of need. You’re awesome Steve.!
Thanks. I know some people are helping out, so I’m glad.
Our group would like to donate to Bella. We only have a checking account. Where should we send our donation?
Please make checks payable to:
The Bella Tucker Fund
P.O. Box 199
Londonderry, NH 03053
Please mention Project Swole as I’d like to earn a reputation as a website that can help people in their time of need. Thanks. I will also email you.
Update:
The kick-a-thon fundrasier was a huge success, raising over $9000 for Bella, and American Kenpo Academy won’t rest until they break the $10k mark! If you are reading this, ask yourself if you can’t part with just $5 or $10 to help out Bella. You should see how much this family appreciates any help they can get! Thanks.