Operation: Force of Hope- Mission Complete

Four months ago I began a crusade to raise funds to help save a young woman's life.

On the evening of November 26th that mission ended, as Nadine Sfeir died in the embrace of her loved ones. She was home for the Holidays. My deepest condolences go out to her friends and family, for their great loss.

I didn't know, right away. I work in retail and the holidays are a busy time for me, and though some people close to me were aware of Nadine's passing it was kept from me, for fear that it would compromise my mental state on what was to be a twenty hour work day, and the busiest day of the year (Thanksgiving into black Friday). It was a well-meaning decision, that unfortunately made it impossible for me to attend the funeral the following Saturday to pay my respects to the girl who I never met, but fought hard to save.

It wasn't until earlier today that I happened across her fundraising page and discovered she had passed.

I knew, of course, when I started this that it was a long shot. That Nadine was in very dire straits, that the costs of her treatment were very very high, that the procedures were experimental. But to be human is to dream, and my dream was that through the kindness of many Nadine could be saved. That her family could rejoice in her recovery, that science and ingenuity would succeed in time to save her life.

I dared to hope that Nadine would live. Knowing what I know now, I would have done it all over again.
Because no one is in this fight alone.

I would like to take the time to thank Everyone who donated to the cause and purchased patches to help Nadine finish the fight. Altogether nearly $2,000 were raised in our fundraiser alone, $1,000 of which had already been posted to Nadine's fundraiser page (I learned of her passing bacause we were nearing the $2,000 mark and I was preparing to post the next $1,000 deposit). Nadine's total fundraiser raised over $55,000 which I have been told will be put toward outstanding medical bills and then the remainder donated to to the Musella Foundation for Brain Tumor Research in memory of Nadine.

Thank you to all the troopers and civilians who donated to help Nadine. I salute you.

Ashley Sandland
Whitney Hayes
Savoie Troy
Joel Ruprecht
Leighton Tomkins
Yutaka Tanaka
Takefumi Tenshima
Inao Yoshida
Valter Santos
Oliver Diez
Milt nation
Linda Crispien
Edwin Palmero
Dan Kohnke
Wade Gadsby
Gaby Navarro
Dennis Evander,
Maxim Fris
Hideki Shima
Andy Wolf
Gary Collins Sr.
James Cembrook
Kristy Anderson
Roberto Vilchis Portillo
Jeroen Joosten
Steven Garcia
Jason Neurath
Patric Bebie
Yutaka Tanaka
Paul Barnett
M. Ozeroglu
Bernhard Sihler
Tim Cubis
Eric Hartman
Stacey Kiefer
Michael Knowles
Diana Yareli Guerrero cruz
Ted Rivera
Julian Kong
Brenda Shields
Jake Baker
Toni Ali 
Steve Page
Charles Judd
Keven Marion
Adam Goetz
Stephan Petry
Christian Lorkowski
Göverim Osman
Harrison Faigen
Sam Parkin
Ross Moneypenny
Brian Ganninger
Sebastian Koch
John Ferarra
Colin Wells
Sean Mazurek

My Holiday will be a little darker this Christmas, knowing that Nadine's family will be mourning their immense loss. I will take the time at some point, to visit her grave and pay my respects to the girl that fought so hard and bravely.

If you know me, you know I already have a plan for the remaining $1,000. The fundraiser will continue, as previously stated, through the 21st of December, and the remaining funds will be diverted to an as yet unannounced project of a similar nature.

The battle is lost, but the war goes on.

Never tell me the odds.

-TK-66613