Fundraiser started for man needing surgery

By Rob Vogt Local Press Writer

Members of the community have banded together to raise funds to help a local community leader have a life-altering surgery to relieve chronic and debilitating pain.

Brad Schlossberger is one of the people leading the fundraising effort. He said Kieth Carlson has had one vertebra in his back completely disintegrate, and a second one is about 50 per cent disintegrated. That means he will need two vertebrae replaced in his lower back. The only place the operation is available is in Dusseldorf, Germany.

The surgery has been booked for Jan. 19, 2020, but Alberta Health Services will not cover the cost.

Carlson and his wife are going over to Germany, but they fly into Frankfurt then travel to Dusseldorf. He will also need to lie on something flat when he flies home on Feb. 4.

All of this will take resources the family just does not have, so several avenues have been established to accept any assistance people are willing to offer.

A bank account has been set up at Chinook Financial with automatic deposit.

Anyone interested in contributing can e-mail electronic fund transfers to bhschlossberger@gmail.com. A GoFundMe page has also been created, by visiting www.gofundme.com/f/kieth-carlson.