'Life Coach' Sets Up Fund to Help Brother's Medical Bills After Brutal Beating

April Dodd is an inspirational speaker, life coach and author, but she perhaps has never spoken for a cause so close to home.

April's brother, Jim Burge, was brutally beaten Saturday, Aug. 10, after he reportedly called after a white car speeding down his quiet street in Rockford. The driver got out of the car, pummeled Burge, pulled him into a ditch, kicked him repeatedly and "left him for dead," according to a report from mystateline.com.

Dodd says Burge suffered multiple injuries in the attack, including "broken bones to the face, two broken areas in the right eye socket, a detached earlobe, a totally blown out nose, broken teeth, brain bleeding and brain bruises."

Now, she is raising funds to help pay for her brother's medical expenses. Dodd has posted the story on the homepage of her website, aprildodd.com. 

"The crime was witnessed by the very neighborhood children he was trying to protect," she says on the homepage. "That’s so like him. He was my protector growing up, too, and with his quiet strength I always felt safe when he was around."

The event was especially hard on the family, Dodd says, because Jim lost his job due to downsizing and is unemployed, and his wife, Julie, suffers from lupus and fibromyalgia.

"This means Jim has no insurance to cover the immense amount of medical costs for his healing and wellness. He and his wife were in the process of selling their house in order to move up north and begin a new job, location, and life together. That all changed on that violent night," Dodd says on her website.

Dodd and friends have started a fund to help support Jim and Julie.

"Please help," she says. "Please donate what you feel called to donate below.  It’ll help move the energy and create a deep truth that healing is the application of loving to the places inside that hurt. And at this time, Jim and Julie are hurting."