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Friends Help Schwirtlich Family in Time of Need
Posted: Dec 6, 2012 5:35 PM by Mia Gordon - mgordon@kristv.com
Updated: Dec 6, 2012 6:59 PM
There are multiple updates to this story. Please click here to get the latest information.
CORPUS CHRISTI - Erik Schwirtlich, the victim of a brutal assault is still unable to walk or talk properly. But it turns out this is not the first time the Schwirtlich family has had to deal with tragedy.
Today we spoke with Erik's father, Don Schwirtlich and found out just what his family has been through over the years.
Don says, "This morning when I saw him he said, hi dad, and reached out to hug me and stuff. So he obviously recognized me."
And while that is great progress, there are still some days Erik doesn't recognize his own father.
That's after Erik was punched in the face while walking downtown last Saturday. That punch knocked him unconscious. Almost a week later he is still in the ICU having trouble walking and talking.
But Don tells us this isn't the first tragedy he has had to deal with, "They say that God adjusts the load to the shoulder, and I want to ask God to do a re-check on his measurements because I'm not real sure anymore."
8 years ago, when Don's daughter Lauren was only 14, she was raped.
Then two years ago Don was told his wife, Christina, wasn't going to survive a complicated heart disease.
Don says, "I remember waking up every morning thinking oh my God what a nightmare that was. And then you go, geez, that wasn't a nightmare, that was real."
Christina lived, but medical bills but the Schwirtlich family in bankruptcy. And even that wasn't the end of the families troubles. Don tells us, "7 days after I got the news about my wife, the business I had been helping to build for a couple of years collapsed."
Still trying to pay off old medical bills, Erik's condition brings on a whole set of new one's and now family and friends are helping the Schwirtlich's in this time of need.
Erik's cousin created the website www.giveforward.com/Schwirtlichlove. Anyone who wants to donate money to the family just clicks where it says ' Give Now.'
The website has already raised over $2,000 and has given Don hope, "You look at what one person did it's like you want to say what's this world coming to and then you see all of this and you don't loose hope."
Friends and family are not stopping at just the website. Next Thursday Club Aria will donate all cover charges to the family.
Next Saturday there will be a BBQ at Office Club. $8 for a plate of food, and again all proceeds will go towards Erik's medical bills.
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