Illness, thieves stole Christmas

Illness, thieves stole Christmas

String of rotten luck left family with no income, no home

By Sam Cooper, The ProvinceNovember 26, 2009

The doctor and a social worker walked in. There was an awkward silence.

Arthur Mattson, 49, and his 10-year-old boy Jordan were seated beside Kelli Mattson, 44, who lay on a bed in Abbotsford Regional Hospital.

"I know this is hard, but Kelli won't be able to come home," the doctor said. "She's going to have to live in extended care from now on." Kelli started to cry, then Jordan, and finally Arthur broke down, too.

That was in February. Kelli had been "really sick and incoherent" for months, Arthur remembers. After a visit to the ER in December 2008 doctors eventually figured the cause of Kelli's mystery illness was a mistakenly prescribed acid-reflux medicine she'd been on for years. It had "literally killed her kidneys," Arthur says.

It was just the first in a series of blows that would level the Mattsons. Just before Christmas 2008 the family's Chilliwack home was broken into. Drug addicts got Jordan's Christmas gift, a BMX bike, and everything of value, Arthur says.

Thieves struck again days later, stealing Kelli's wheelchair out of Arthur's truck.

Then he had to quit his warehouse job, as he was "basically living at the hospital with Kelli," he says. And home-invaders hit a final time, flooding the home for spite and making it unhabitable, Arthur says. The mortgage was not insured, and the bank foreclosed on the home, he says.

Now the family splits time between relatives' homes in North Vancouver and Abbotsford. Arthur says Kelli put her foot down several months ago and insisted she would not live 24/7 in hospital, instead returning for five-hour dialysis sessions three times a week.

This week, the North Shore Christmas Bureau offered to help the family, and Arthur says he's extremely grateful. The family has been able to secure a mobile home in Abbotsford for January, and they're hoping to get it furnished.

"We don't even have salt and pepper shakers," Arthur says. "Because of this illness and the thieves, we've lost everything." Most of all, Arthur and Kelli want Jordan to get the Christmas he missed last year. Arthur says Jordan has displayed remarkable courage throughout the tough year. He's a math and drama whiz who has poured all his hurt feelings into school and homework.

"I'm so proud of that little boy," Arthur says, adding he wishes he had planned better for a rainy day, but instead lavished his five grown children with gifts.

"I grew up in hard times on a farm in Maple Ridge. I did my best to give my children everything they wanted," he says.

- Province readers last year raised $335,000 for the Empty Stocking Fund, now in its 91st year. The money goes to 27 community groups that provide food, shelter and gifts to thousands in need. The Province covers all administrative costs for the campaign.

scooper@theprovince.com

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Illness+thieves+stole+Christmas/2267528/story.html