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Patriots Day Family Fund

The Patriot Day Family- A Story of Patriotism, Service, and Love.

The story of the Patriot Day family is full of love, and service. They have asked to remain anonymous. The couple met in high school in 1994, at that time it was just two love-struck high schoolers living in Fayetteville, North Carolina. While the start of their relationship was short-lived, they found each other again 13 years later.  At that point in their lives, they had both served in the military and found their careers. The husband joined the Marine Corps in 1994 right out of high school, while the wife joined the Army in 2001. After leaving the military the husband joined law enforcement. His 25-year career in law enforcement earned him the rank of Lieutenant. Together the couple has eight children. Three are serving in the Marine Corps, one is serving in the Army, one is a correction officer, and one is a Police Officer. The youngest two are in high school.

The family's story takes a sad and scary turn on Mother’s Day of 2023. The family's tradition of taking the mother to the North Carolina Zoo was changed due to unfortunate news received the week prior. The wife had been caring for her mother who was suffering from stage four cancer. The family decided to cancel the zoo trip and instead take the grandmother to the beach one last time. On Mother’s Day morning, the husband and youngest son left for the coast before everyone else in hopes of catching kingfish off the pier. After the son hooked his first-ever kingfish, he wanted to share the news with his mother. After trying to reach his mom multiple times with no response, his dad became worried. He enlisted family members to go check on her at their family home. She was found unresponsive in their master bedroom. She was rushed to the local hospital. The dad made it just in time to see her being loaded onto a care flight to be flown to Duke. After many hard hours of not knowing her condition or prognosis, they finally started to get answers.

The mom of 8 suffered a stroke which caused her to be paralyzed on her right side. A large portion of her brain died due to the stroke. She, along with her family, is now undergoing the long process of learning how to move through life with physical and mental challenges. The husband jumped to action the moment he knew she would survive. To make their home safe, and accessible for her new needs, he took out all the carpet and installed two chair lifts. He purchased all the necessary equipment such as wheelchairs, handrails, and toilet lifts to help move her from room to room.

Once the news got out about her condition, some kids the couple had coached a decade ago started reaching out to offer their support. The family quickly realized they were surrounded by a loving, supportive, and generous community. The church the family is a member of jumped to action by helping prepare the home for the wife’s arrival. The family was also introduced to First in Families of North Carolina, who started helping the family with this transition. When First in Families of North Carolina learned the family needed a new bathroom to make bathing safer, they introduced Habitat for Humanity to the situation.

Fayetteville Area Habitat for Humanity jumped on the opportunity to help the family who has dedicated their lives to service. The organization wants to honor their years of service to the community, and their children’s years of service. Providing them with a safe and accessible bathroom can give the family peace of mind so that they can focus on the wife’s recovery.

Fayetteville Area Habitat for Humanity has started a fund for the renovation. The organization understands this renovation is time-sensitive and asks for the community’s help. Please consider donating to the fund.

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Seeking to put God's love into action, Fayetteville Area Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope..

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