Headline #1: Edgar Cooper Needs An Arm To Stand On
Headline #2: Our Friend Edgar Cooper Needs Our Help
Suggested by GoFundMe:
Besides social gatherings, many of you probably know Edgar as the dive boat captain who took us to some of the best dive sites in Utila, as well as possibly dropped you in the water for an incredible experience with some Dolphins or a Whale Shark.
The main dock on the Cays, which is right in front of Edgar’s house, is often piled high with materials from the freight boats. This was the case on Tuesday, August 13th which caused Edgar to misstep and fall into the sea where his arm hit the cement retaining wall and broke in two places. Knowing Edgar, we were a bit surprised his arm didn’t break the cement, but unfortunately, it was the other way around.
After his son David pulled him out of the water, we rushed him to the mainland. We want to extend a huge Thank You to Jerry Bodden for driving his boat at nighttime to get us there. X-rays in La Ceiba showed it to be a very bad break with some complications that most likely will require surgery. Edgar has made 2 trips to the mainland so far and has seen two different doctors.
The first doctor put a cast on his arm but then said he didn’t like the way it looked. After Edgar said he could still feel the bone grinding and moving which caused considerable pain and worry that something wasn’t right, he was recommended to a specialist who immediately cut the first cast off because it was done incorrectly, and put a new cast on which is the cast in the pictures.
The specialist will see Edgar again on Wednesday, August 28th to determine if surgery will be necessary. Edgar no longer drives a dive boat and now makes his living exclusively from fishing and catching lobster so having full use of his arm is critical to his livelihood.
Here you can see Edgar in action, and you may have enjoyed a nice lobster dinner thanks to his diving skills.
Edgar, like many fishermen on the Cays, pretty much lives day to day going fishing and diving in the morning to put food on the table that evening. He has very limited savings, and those savings are usually earmarked for such things as house repairs … until something unexpected like this happens.
Edgar has already depleted his savings, and taken on debts he can’t afford, to pay for these last 2 trips to La Ceiba. Hospital and doctor bills, medications, and other expenses have already cost him over L.34,500 which is a little over $1,400.
I created this GoFundMe page to help Edgar recover from his accident since he has depleted his savings and won’t be able to work for 6 to 10 weeks depending on the surgery diagnosis. With our help, we can reimburse him for the savings he spent on medical treatments because the rainy season will be here very shortly, and he needs those savings for the house repairs they were intended for before the accident. It’s hard enough for Edgar to accumulate savings even when he’s healthy and working.
Edgar’s next trip to La Ceiba to see the specialist on August 28th will be very important. If by a miracle he can avoid surgery, he will still have some additional medical and other expenses of around $1,180. If Edgar does need surgery on his arm for it to heal properly (it’s the bone that is slightly sticking out in the X-ray that’s causing the problem) then his medical expenses will be around $4,050. The surgery alone will be around $3,750.
I talked to Edgar this morning (August 22nd ) and he said there’s a lot of pain in his arm, and occasionally he still feels the bone grinding so it’s very doubtful that it’s going to heal itself without the surgery. I’ve made the fundraising goal with the most expected results of the doctor’s visit on the 28th in mind which is the need for surgery.
I think we all know how hard Edgar works, and how good he is at his job, but if he needs surgery and doesn’t have enough money for it, then he’ll pass on it which scares me. Similar situations have happened on the Cays before where someone gets injured, and they pass on the proper treatment because they can’t afford it, and then wind up physically disabled to some extent and can’t work anymore which makes it worse. Let’s not let this happen to Edgar.
Hopefully, we can raise enough money to cover Edgar’s medical expenses and his basic needs while he recovers. Edgar will be out of work for 6 to 10 weeks. His only expenses during this recovery time will be food, water, butane, and power for him and his wife.
Edgar lives a very simple life; no air conditioning or fancy meals so this won’t be much. His wife Tammy works at the school and makes L.1,750 per week which is about $70 so that helps, but it’s not enough to cover everything. Edgar and Tammy will probably only need $5 to $10 per day for these basic necessities until Edgar can get back to work.
Thank you everyone, your help is greatly appreciated!