Hope for single mother: a fundraising campaign for new car started!

Hope for single mother: a fundraising campaign for new car started!

The story of Tatjana Simon is a moving story of challenges and fights that many single mothers can understand. The 32-year-old woman from Alheim in the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district is a single mother of four children aged 1, 4, 5 and 9 years. Simon has been suffering from autoimmune disease neuromyelitis optica, which attacks the central nervous system. This disease makes simple everyday tasks a major challenge, since it often suffers from fatigue and regularly goes through regular cortisone cures that are associated with unpleasant side effects. In severe phases of the disease, she was even dependent on a wheelchair, which severely restricted her mobility.

in November 2024 Tatjana moved with her children to a small apartment in Heinebach after she had previously lived in Ludwigsau. However, her life took a dramatic turn when it was involved in a serious car accident on December 21, 2024. On this day, she urgently had to go to the hospital with her eldest son Levi because he suffered pneumonia and suspected sepsis. During the trip, she lost control of the vehicle, which crashed into trees and was totally damaged. Simon suffered a heavy traumatic brain trauma and spent a week in the hospital. Fortunately, her children were released from the hospital on the same day, but the car she needed for the trip was no longer saved and only liable.

The struggle for help and support

The difficulties that Simon has due to her illness are reinforced by her situation as a single mother. She often needs help to cope with everyday ways that simply appear for other people. Although friends from their Christian community willingly offer driving services, this is not a long -term solution. In this context, Eva Paul from Freiburg, who Tatjana had met in the summer of 2024, started a fundraising campaign on “Gofundme” in January 2025. The aim of this campaign is to collect money for a used automatic vehicle that Simon needs for her mobility.

The fundraising campaign should also serve to cover the lack of furnishings and medical costs. So far, almost 8,000 euros have been collected, but Simon still lacks a considerable sum for the car. This willingness to help perceives it as moving, but at the same time also uncomfortable because she can no longer work as a nurse in her profession.

neuromyelitis optica: a challenging disease

The autoimmune disease that Simon suffers has far -reaching consequences. Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder (NMOSD) is one of the diseases that attack the water channels in the cells of the central nervous system and above all affect the optic nerves and the spinal cord. The disease can lead to blindness and paralysis, and relapses cause permanent neurological damage. Estimates state that the prevalence of NMOSD is between 0.7 and 10 out of 100,000 people worldwide and women are disproportionately affected, with a ratio of up to 9: 1 compared to men. The average age of those affected is between 30 and 40, which is the case with Simon.

For patients like Simon, the quality of life is often severely restricted, which has a negative impact on work and relationships. Many affected people experience chronic pain and often need interventions, such as plasma exchange therapies to get acute diseases under control. However, there are also recent therapeutic approaches that show promising results for the treatment of NMOSD, but it is clear that much more research is necessary to better understand the causes and observed environmental factors.

In search of support and a better quality of life, Tatjana Simon is dependent on the solidarity of her fellow human beings. The challenges that you have to manage reflect the reality of many mothers who cannot find an easy solution to their problems.