‘You just saved our house’: Family in need receives Christmas donation

A family in need will be able to get back on their feet thanks to the kindness of others.
Brick Township resident Luke Ray was left debilitated after botched weight-loss surgery. The father of five is unable to work and has to be fed through a tube. He must take 25 to 30 pills a day.
Ray says that his family was just about out of money, until a Christmas Eve miracle. Ray’s son’s karate coach Paul Prendergast showed up with a check for more than $15,000.
“They already took my truck. You just saved my house. Our house,” Ray says.
The community was able to raise the money in just about five weeks.
“Some kids said, ‘Yeah, we raised $50 for you, $100. I didn’t know it was going to be $15,000,” says Ray’s son, Luke Jr.
Ray says that although he nearly died on the operating table, he never gave up hope that he would one day be able to return to his old self and continue to work and provide for his family.
“Hopefully everything will work out and…one day you’ll see me back in my truck running around again. It would be very nice,” Ray says.
Ray will have more surgery next month. He says that if it works he will be able to eat real food again. He hopes to resume his heating and cooling work by the spring.