Cory has been in and out of the hospital for the past 6 months. Each time, he was in excruciating abdominal pain and unable to function, let alone work. They kept sending him home with prescriptions for acid reflux. Several times, loved ones witnessed Cory have some sort of attack in which he couldn't breathe and clutched at his chest until he briefly passed out. Through all this, Cory continued working despite his pain, often working 18-20 hours a day and sleeping very little or sometimes not at all. He is only 31 with a young family, including 2 young boys (6 & 9), for whom he is the sole source of income.

On 3/6 he had another attack of severe abdominal pain and had to be transported by ambulance to Unity hospital. He was later admitted to the ICU and had emergency abdominal surgery the next day. Cory nearly died on that day. His surgeon told me when he opened him up he didn't think there was any chance he could save Cory's life, let alone repair him enough to prevent having a colostomy bag. We all prayed and prayed for him. The surgeon said the surgery went far better than he ever could have expected. Not only did he survive, but he did not need a bag. We are so blessed to have him still with us today.