Foundation helps cover living expenses following hardship

It was a normal commute to work for ATS Shop Employee Tom S. and his girlfriend Haley F., also an ATS Employee. That was until they were approaching a stop sign, when suddenly Tom had a seizure.

When he initially came to, he was in a significant amount of pain, leading to him falling in and out of consciousness several more times. When he finally stayed conscious for a while, he learned he broke five vertebrae from the neck down and broke both of his shoulders. Tom needed a spinal fusion to repair the damage done by his seizure.

The injury caused Tom to miss time at work, leading to one less paycheck to cover the costs at home. While Tom had heard of the Anderson Assistance Foundation (the Foundation), he didn’t think his injury fit the criteria. Luckily, Haley did. She applied on Tom’s behalf, which led to the Foundation covering a portion of their living expenses to help them through the hardship.

“I was really grateful,” Tom said. “It helped us so much.”

Tom said the doctor told him he wouldn’t be able to do manual labor for the foreseeable future, which was a key part of his job. That’s why he said the assistance from the Foundation meant so much.

“Something that may seem so small to the Foundation was really big for us,” Tom said.