This comes to be via Sakky-Attack

A friend of mine needs some help. Please take a moment to read this
story below and do what you can, if you can.

After you read, consider this: Can you donate a few dollars to make a
difference in Sara’s life? What little bit can you give that would mean
the absolute world to this friend? If everyone that reads this can give
just a few dollars, we can help Sara reconnect with the world! These
might be challenging financial times, but consider all that you have:
your freedom to move where you want, the option to eat some delicious
food, the chance to wrap your arms around someone you love. What can
you do for someone who has had those things taken from them?

Donations can be sent to PayPal – donate@sarascourage.org
Or mailed to:

Sara Baker Trust Fund
#10350222753
Exchange Bank
8220 Old Redwood Highway
Cotati, CA 94931

_________

THE STORY

One year ago, my friend Sara Baker AKA Glory was on her way her way to
school. Sara was 19-years-old at the time, a college student, happily
in love with her boyfriend of a few years, making art and having fun.

As she was merging onto a highway, a reckless driver tried to pass her
on the right and hit her. The bump sent her flying out into traffic
causing her to lose control of her car. She tried to come to a safe
stop and pull to the side of the road, but something when wrong in the
last moment and her car was sent flipping over into a ditch on the side
of the road, bursting into flames.

Passers by came to her aid, trying to break the windows to get to Sara,
throwing mud on the flaming car to try and keep the flames from her.
Miraculously, she had no injuries from the accident. She is taken to
the hospital to recover, likely to wake up with a really bad headache.

However, in the hospital, Sara was struck by another attack, silent and
devastating: she suffered a stroke.

Sara is now what’s called “locked-in,” a condition which allows her to
feel her whole body but without being able to move voluntary muscles,
with the exception of her eyes. She is a quadriplegic that can feel
everything: every itch, every fly that lands, every pain.

Sara will never draw again; not the way she used to. Every day she
lives attached to tubes that feed her and help her breath. After 11
months in the hospital she is finally home, but life will never be back
to normal for her. She requires constant care, and she is obviously
very limited in what she can do for hours and hours.

She’s a fighter though. She’s gotten back some mobility in her head and
lips. She is working on strengthening control of her vocal chords and
working on gaining more control of her tongue so she can eventually
breath through her mouth and eat again. When she coughs, her legs move
up to her chest.

Sara communicates with her mother, nurses, and her few visitors by using
a computer that types based on her eye movements. As the computer
scrolls through rows of letters, she looks up when she wants to select a
row. The inferred light on the glasses reflects off the white of her
eyes to make the selection. Then she waits for the selector to get to
the letter she wants, and then she starts over until she has spelled out
what she wants.

This video shows how it works:
http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c365/SuperSailorAstera/glory/?action=view&current=P1060755-1.flv

I went to see Sara a few weeks ago and we talked for hours. It was
strange because I was used to talking to her online, and in some ways,
talking through the computer was kind of similar (all be it slower). We
had a few laughs and it was great to see the same funny, smart kid was
still in there. But there were sad parts too, like when she told me how
much she misses making art. I asked her if it hurt and she told me,
“Always.”

Most of the time, she’s in good spirits, keeping herself busy with lots
of movies and her physical therapy, but lately things have been getting
a lot harder for her. She’s suffered some emotional set backs in the
last week, and she is starting to be more isolated. She is lonely a lot
because she is really disconnected from everyone.

The technology she has doesn’t allow her to access the web in a way that
works for someone in her condition. The technology she needs is, as you
can imagine, very expensive. Cyberlink will not only allow Sara to get
online, it also has means for her to make digital art. Sara’s mom is a
single mom and she takes the brunt of Sara’s care like a true hero. She
is just making ends meet with the money required for Sara’s care on top
of the rent and other everyday expenses. She cannot afford to get this
technology on her own.

I am determined to make a difference for this brave girl. She does not
have to be alone in herself. There IS technology out there to reconnect
her to her friends. We HAVE to do something to help.

Please, if you’ve read this far (thank you) spread the word! It only
takes a little bit by a lot of people to really make a difference.

Please let me know if you donate, I’d like to try to keep track of what
we raise. So far, her online friends at the web forum Tower of Time
have raised $1090, but so much more is needed. Please help if you can,
and if you cannot afford even just a dollar, then please pass this along
to everyone you know.

You can follow Sara’s story on the blog that her friends and family
update here: http://sarastatus.blogspot.com/

Thanks again for taking the time to read this.

Sarah Forde
Sarah@sailorastera.com

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