Chesapean Outdoors

🌊THE RIPPLE COMES BACK 🌊
For you Matty — One Step Forward

I HAVE A REALLY BIG ASK OF ALL OF YOU. ❤️

Over the past few weeks, I have been overwhelmed by the stories people have shared with me about Matt.
Past employees. Friends. Families. Kids from Adventure Camps. Parents. People he has taken out on the water. People he has taught about our ecosystem. People he gave an opportunity to. People he may not even realize he made an impact on.
I have received messages from people telling me how Matt changed their life, inspired them, taught them something, gave their child a memory they will never forget, or simply made them see the outdoors—and the world around them—a little differently.
And I want Matt to hear every single one of those stories.
❤️ HERE'S WHAT I'M ASKING YOU TO DO:
1. Think of your Matt story.
It can be anything—a memory, an adventure, something he taught you, something funny, something your child experienced, or simply the way Matt made you feel.
2. Write it in a Facebook post.
It doesn't have to be long or perfectly written. Just tell your story from your heart.
3. Post it on the Chesapean page and/or your own page.
4. Please tag Matt and Chesapean if you can, and use the hashtag so we can find the stories.
5. MOST IMPORTANTLY—please share this post.
We want this ripple to reach as many people as possible.
I want to collect these stories and read them to Matt. I want him to see the incredible ripple effect of a life spent teaching, exploring, protecting, sharing, and loving the outdoors.
Right now, we're taking things one foot, one step, one breath, one day at a time.
Forward.
Forward.
Forward.
And maybe, just maybe, hearing all of these stories will remind him of how many people are standing behind him and how many lives he has touched.
So please… help me remind Matt why he needs to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
If Matt has ever touched your life in any way, this is your chance to tell him. ❤️
Send your story. Share this post. Help us bring the ripple back to Matt.
THE RIPPLE COMES BACK.

Post surgery update on Matt ❤️✝️💪

So many people have asked how Matt is doing, and honestly, we haven’t had the words or the energy to respond to everyone. We are sorry. We see every text, every message, every card, every prayer, and every bit of love that has been sent our way. We just haven’t been able to keep up. Please know how deeply grateful we are for every single one of you.

After surgery, Matt’s body went into almost a shock-like state. We are having to relearn how to get his body to digest food and function normally again. It has been a long recovery, and it has been
incredibly difficult for him.

Right now, we are not able to do chemotherapy. So our fight has changed for the moment. Our job is
to survive, to thrive, to get stronger, gain weight, and turn this corner.

And every single day, Matt gets up and fights.

Man, is he fighting the good fight.

We are working so hard to get his calorie intake up, but eating has become one of the hardest parts of this journey. Food is necessary for him to get stronger, but eating can bring pain afterward, and
watching him have to endure that is heartbreaking.

But things ARE getting better.
It is very slow.
But slow is still forward.

Yesterday we had a WIN. 🏆

For the first time, Matt walked all the way to the end of our street.

And then he did it three times.

To most people, that may not sound like much. But to me, it was HUGE. I was so incredibly proud of him. These are the moments we are holding onto right now. The little victories. The tiny steps
forward. The things that remind us that his body is still fighting.

So please keep praying for Matt.

Pray that he can sleep—that his body can finally rest and heal.

Pray that his digestive tract begins to process food without so much pain.

Pray that he can continue to eat, maintain his weight, and eventually gain weight.

Pray that his strength comes back.

And most of all, pray that we can TURN THIS CORNER.

Those are our prayers right now.

We will keep you posted as we can, and we will celebrate every small win along the way.

Thank you for loving Matt. Thank you for loving our family. Thank you for continuing to pray when we
don't have the words to ask.

We feel every bit of it.
We love you all more than you know.
We will see this to the other side!

www.gofundme.com

Every day we pray for Matt..so I say it again and again and ask for all to pray with us! 🙏🙏🙏

Heavenly father, we just pray right now over our dear friend Matt, that you will bring him the nourishment and nutrition that he needs to get to and to maintain a healthy weight. We know that you are the ultimate physician and we lean on you, Lord for supernatural healing. ❤️‍🩹
By your wounds, Matt is healed, and we know he can do all things through Christ to strengthens him.
We come into agreement and believe that he will be completely restored and healed by the power and the blood of Jesus Christ. 🙌🏼🙏🏼❤️‍🩹

For those asking about how to help and food for matt…the giveinkind directive has been updated and it is listed there, but for simplicity sake:

Mash potatoes, pasta
No peppers, onions, leafy greens of any kind, spicy seasoning, cheese or milk products.

Kate Redford (You)
Just now

LET US PRAY….
We have reached a point with Matt where the most important thing right now is very clear: he must maintain his weight or, even better, begin gaining weight. He simply cannot afford to lose any more weight if he is going to be considered for treatment moving forward.
In the meantime, we have brought in some additional methods and support through a very near and dear professional friend in the holistic field as we continue to push forward and see if we can get Matt strong enough for another round of chemo.
Right now, our focus is on the basics—but they are so important. Eating. Gaining weight. Getting stronger. Healing. Moving forward.
I am asking every person who sees this, and anyone you can ask to join us, to please pray specifically for Matt. Pray that he continues to eat, that his body absorbs the nutrition he needs, that he gains weight, regains his strength, heals, and keeps moving forward.
We need to put our hearts together and pray for these things for him. Please keep the momentum going. We believe that every prayer, every encouraging word, and every bit of support matters more than you know.
Please keep praying for Matt. We are not giving up. ❤️

Kate Redford (You)

Difficulties Are Blessings in Disguise ❤️

Everyone has been asking how surgery went—and thankfully, it went beautifully. Now comes the part nobody really talks about: adjusting to all the new changes afterward.
Matt has been taking it one day, one kink, and one restless night at a time. And while we’re definitely still working through some things, last night he finally got a GOOD night’s sleep… hospital-style! That felt like a pretty big victory around here.
We’re still in the hospital, but we’re seeing tiny improvements every day. Baby steps are still steps, and right now, we’ll take every single one. We’re hopeful that we’re slowly turning that corner and that we’ll be home sometime next week. ❤️
We even got the full hospital experience this week—including surviving an actual tornado warning! Because apparently surgery and an ileostomy weren’t enough excitement. Thankfully, the tornado warning fizzled out, and we lived to tell the tale!
I’m looking forward to getting home, seeing our family, friends, and dogs, and preparing to send our youngest off to college next week (BOO! ). Life certainly doesn’t slow down for us!
Today’s reading from my daily devotional felt like it was written just for us: “Difficulties are blessings in disguise.” Maybe they don’t feel like blessings while we’re walking through them, but they have a funny way of showing us what really matters—faith, family, friends, love, and gratitude for every little victory.
So that’s our update. We’re tired, we’re grateful, we’re still fighting, and we’re looking forward. ❤️
Thank you for continuing to love, pray for, encourage, and support our family. We feel it more than you know.

https://www.gofundme.com/manage/standing-with-matt-redford

For everyone asking….

One Step Forward… and a Few Bumps Along the Way ❤️ A little Matt update ❤️

Matt’s surgery on Tuesday went perfectly, which we are incredibly thankful for! Since then, we’ve hit a few bumps in the road—as expected—and he’s definitely feeling the aftermath.
Right now, the biggest culprit is the CO₂ gas from the laparoscopic surgery, which apparently has decided to take the scenic route out of his body. It’s causing some pretty intense pain, along with the colon flare and soreness from surgery. Basically, he’s dealing with the triple whammy.
The good news is that everything is functioning as it should, and he is getting excellent care, fluids and pain medication while his body works through this part.
It’s been a long, exhausting road, but we’re taking this one day, one hurdle and one victory at a time. We are so incredibly grateful for every prayer, message, donation and bit of love you continue to send our way. ❤️
Please keep Matt in your prayers as we get through this next stretch. We feel every single one of you beside us. ❤️

https://gofund.me/d624233a6

My heart. Well..one of three. Pearce and Caden are right there with him. 🩷🩷🩷

UPDATE!

✅ A New Path Forward for Matt
After a very difficult few weeks, we finally have a plan. Matt’s surgical team has decided that radiation and the colitis infusions are not the right path for
him right now. His bowel is simply too inflamed, and adding more immune suppression on top of chemotherapy could put his body under even more stress.

💪 So, this week, Matt will have a temporary ileostomy to bypass his colon and give it the chance to finally rest and heal. Our hope is that this will bring him some relief and allow his body to recover
enough for us to resume chemotherapy, which remains the priority in treating the cancer in his liver.

🚗 It’s not the road we expected to take, but right now, we are choosing the road that gives his body the best chance to heal while we continue fighting the cancer. After everything we’ve been through, we are incredibly grateful to finally have a direction. We are hopeful. We are praying. And we are taking this one step at a time.

🙏❤️To everyone who has prayed for Matt, donated, shared our story, checked on us, sent a message, or simply kept our family in your heart — thank you. Your support has meant more than we could
ever put into words.

Please pray with us …🙏✝️
Heavenly Father, please close every door that does not serve us, and leave only the one open that is the right path forward. Give us the wisdom to recognize it, the courage to walk through it, and the faith to trust where it leads. In Jesus name AMEN