Known as an extremely hard worker and devoted father, Hixson resident Bill Anderson is the sort of man who would do anything for his family and many friends.
He worked constantly in order to afford tuition for his son Will and daughter Alison to attend Baylor School, and while you could often find him cheering on the sidelines during one of Will’s lacrosse games or Alison’s cross country matches, his long hours at work prevented him from spending many precious moments with his family.
On Nov. 17, Anderson was having trouble breathing. When his wife Lisa took him to the emergency room, he was diagnosed with a dissected aneurysm. It was then discovered that his heart was missing a valve, a defect he was born with but never knew about, as he had never previously had any issues.
He underwent massive surgery to correct the defect and stop the bleeding from the dissection in his aorta, and Anderson’s heart was again able to beat on its own, but he was still not responding.
Though Lisa Anderson works full time, Bill was the family’s main breadwinner. He has worked for TVA for two decades, but two years ago he began working on a contractual basis, which paid slightly more but did not include health insurance.
With the medical bills piling up and Bill unable to work, the family was struggling to make ends meet.
Lookout Mountain resident and fellow Baylor parent Bonny Shuptrine wanted to do something to help support the family. Her husband, artist Alan Shuptrine, had recently had success raising funds for a personal project through a Kickstarter campaign, which gave her the idea to use crowdfunding to help the Andersons.
She created a campaign on GoFundMe.com, setting an original fundraising goal of $9,500. As of the first week in January, the campaign had raised about $1,000 shy of that goal, which was just raised to $15,000 to continue to help the family as they remain in limbo, waiting to see what will happen with Anderson’s recovery.
“GoFundMe has been awesome for the past few months,” Shuptrine said, adding that all funds are going directly to the family, allowing Lisa Anderson to make the minimum payments on their credit cards and otherwise helping the family financially get through the holidays. “They should be able to get through the next month or two without any [financial] issues.”
Shuptrine said one of the good things about using GoFundMe.com as a crowdfunding platform is that once a campaign raises at least $1,000, the funds can be accessed while the campaign is still ongoing.
The outpouring of support from the community has been amazing, she said. About 100 people have made a contribution, with donors ranging from his neighborhood association in Hixson to other Baylor parents. The school community has rallied around the Andersons, surrounding them with support and generosity, said Shuptrine, adding that the people one meets through Baylor are one of the biggest reasons the school is a worthwhile investment.
“[Bill Anderson] is just one of those great guys who’s everybody’s friend,” she said. “All he wanted was to support his kids and help them go to college.”
Just before the new year, Bill Anderson was beginning to sit up and receive people, and will soon start the rehabilitation process, Shuptrine said, though no one knows at this point exactly what that will entail or how long it will take. Family friends are trying to help his son Will, a senior, choose among the colleges to which he has been accepted. Daughter Alison, a junior, is preparing to start the application process – both things he worked so hard to make a possibility.
To make a contribution to the family or to read updates on Bill Anderson’s status, visit gofundme.com/3ebjsqvg.
Email Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com.