Click here for Greater Long Island newsletters. Click here to download the iPhone app.
A New York City nurse and single mother of four young children is still fighting for her life two weeks after suffering a traumatic brain injury in a fall on the night of Saturday, April 26.
Levittown resident Jennie-Rae DeVerna, 50, underwent emergency brain surgery — a craniectomy — and remains hospitalized in the intensive care unit. Doctors have not provided a timeline for her recovery, according to information shared by her close friend, Faith Miracle Bullard.
Since DeVerna’s fall on April 26, family, friends, co-workers and strangers have stepped up to support her and her children. More than $66,000 has been raised through over 660 donations on a GoFundMe page launched by Bullard to help cover medical and household expenses.
DeVerna is a registered nurse working in cardiac care in a Manhattan hospital, where she assists during heart procedures and provides care in urgent, high-pressure situations. At home, her children — ranging in age from 2 to 8 — are being looked after by her parents, siblings and close friends, according to Bullard.
Support from colleagues
“We invite our union community in supporting Jennie Rae and her family through this unimaginably hard time,” the New York Professional Nurses Union said in an Instagram post.
“She has always shown up for others,” the fundraiser page reads. “Now, we have the chance to show up for her.”
Bullard noted that DeVerna’s brother, John Paul, is the fundraiser’s beneficiary and is managing how donations are used. Funds will help cover childcare, medical costs, rehabilitation and ongoing living expenses during DeVerna’s recovery, Bullard said.
How to help
To contribute to the campaign, you can click the GoFundMe button below.
DeVerna’s sister, Katie DeVerna Hall, expressed gratitude for the support her sibling has received from the community.
“My entire family thanks everyone so very much for all of the love and support you all have shown to my sister,” she wrote on her Facebook page. “You guys have been such an amazing support system to Jennie-Rae , and she’s lucky to have so many friends looking out for her.
Top photo: Jennie-Rae DeVerna and her four children (GoFundMe).
