Morgan Franchina began the fundraiser after her father, Randy, ended up unexpectedly in the hospital on Aug 14.

“This has been a nightmare for our entire family,” Franchina said. “To preface, my father Randy is a young, healthy, 56-year-old man who has worked hard his entire life to provide for his family. Last Wednesday, Aug 14, I woke up to several missed calls and texts from my younger brother Zachary that something was wrong with our dad. He said that they were at UPMC Chautauqua in the ER, so I rushed there immediately. I arrived to find my father in lots of pain and very clear discomfort that is ingrained in my mind forever.”

Franchina said she stayed in the ICU with her father for as long as she was allowed, and then a few hours later received a phone call saying he was being transported by helicopter to UPMC Hamot. It was there that the family found out what was wrong.

“Although terrifying, our family felt confident that Hamot was the best place for him due to their more specialized medicine and the advanced team of doctors and nurses on staff there,” Franchina said. “It was UPMC Hamot that first gave us an idea of what was truly going on with my father: a suspected temporary arterial dissection that had caused a blood clot to enter his brain. He had his first emergency brain surgery, which would save my dad’s life early that Thursday morning. It was truly unreal to all of us who know how healthy and active my dad is, that a microscopic tear that could barely be seen on the scans could cause such a horrific change to all of our lives forever.”

Morgan and Randy Franchina. Randy recently had to undergo emergency brain surgery and Morgan has begun a Go Fund Me to help their family during this time. Submitted photo

Since the first surgery, Randy Franchina has had at least four additional procedures to address all of the damage. Franchina said the family has been told “this is a marathon and not a sprint” and have been with him every day at Hamot, with no intention of leaving until he can come home.

Franchina began the Go Fund Me to help support her family and father during this time.

“One of the first things my father said to me in the hospital was, ‘I’m a provider,'” Franchina said. “I knew it was on his mind, despite everything else that was going on in his body at the time, that he needed to take care of his family. He has worked his entire life, and when my siblings and I were younger he would have up to three jobs at a time to provide for our family. He never wanted a handout in life or the easy way. Knowing it was on his mind and that it had to also be on my mother’s, I told dad not to worry, and that mom and my younger brother would always be taken care of.”

Franchina said between her older siblings, family and friends, there is a great support network. She added that she thought of creating the Go Fund Me because of seeing how the local community has come together to help families in their time of need before.

“We’ve donated to several of them, and I know how much they help people,” Franchina said. “We never thought we would be in a situation where we have to ask for a helping hand, but now that we are, it has made so much difference in just the last 48 hours of being live. It provides that extra cushion for my family to fall back on when the medical bills start coming in, but also for our daily travel to be with our dad in Hamot. My mom refuses to leave his side and I make sure that she is able to be there with him every day. She is a trooper.”

Pictured are Randy and Dianne Franchina.

Franchina said when she was little her mother, Dianne, had a rare blood disorder, TTP, and that her father was by her side every day in Roswell for the three months that she was there.

“Now, she is stepping up to make sure he is taken care of,” Franchina said. “They truly are the poster image of ‘in sickness and in health’ in marriage vows.”

Randy Franchina is very active in the local community, including being very active in local sports in the early 2000s, coaching football and baseball through the Cassadaga Valley Central School system. Franchina said he remains an avid supporter of them, and as a side passion to his current career he also teaches workforce development coursework at Jamestown Community College, where Franchina also works.

Even with no kids left in high school, Franchina said her father still keeps up with local sports and the family still often goes to his alma mater, Randolph High School, to watch football games.

“He still holds a record there for the longest field goal attempt ever recorded and is very proud of that to this day,” Franchina said. “My father has always been very active in the local community. We can’t go anywhere in Chautauqua County without someone stopping him to chat. He is the kind of guy that everyone gravitates toward. He makes an impact on everyone that he meets.”

Pictured is the Franchina family, made up of (left to right), Zachary, Dianne, Randy, and Morgan Franchina. Submitted photo

She added that doing the Go Fund Me is important to her because it is one less thing for the family to worry about during “one of the most devastating times” of their lives.

“We know that our lives have changed forever and we are still trying to wrap our heads around why this happened,” Franchina said. “We can’t do it all on our own and appreciate the already incredible outpouring of support and assistance from family, friends, and the local community.”

The most important thing Franchina said, is that her dad is strong and is a fighter. She said he is progressing every day and the family knows he will not give up.

“The Franchina name is a badge of strength that we all wear with great pride,” Franchina said. “Our father would give the shirt off his back to anyone in need. It’s time for him to be the one getting the helping hand this time around.”

Franchina also thanked everyone that is a part of the medical team at UPMC Hamot, especially the neurological team who saved her father’s life.

“Without them, we would have lost the most important man in our life,” Franchina said.

The Go Fund Me for the Franchina family can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-the-franchina-familys-medical-journey.