Melanie and Chris Helfrich know that if anything in life is certain, it's the unexpected.Melanie teaches special education classes in high
school and Chris works with autistic children at the elementary level. They help their students overcome obstacles no one could plan for.
When they decided to start a family, that didn't
happen as expected either. After a healthy and uneventful pregnancy, Melanie began her maternity leave. The much-anticipated trip to the hospital had arrived, but Melanie had nearly two more days of labor
and hours of pushing yet to endure before their son, Nate, was finally born.
Melanie spent a few days in the hospital in a lot of pain. She assumed that was normal. When she began
experiencing terrible pain and numbness in her back, hands and legs, she realized something wasn't right.
The muscle in her back had separated from the bone during her difficult labor. Because she spends hours a day on
her feet as a teacher, her doctor advised her not to return to work and prescribed physical therapy and deep tissue massage.
Melanie had some "sick days" saved, but some time was left unpaid and her injury lead to additional expenses. That combined with the impact a new baby has on a household budget, could have caused a lot of stress.
However, Melanie was covered by a disability insurance plan from Mutual of Omaha. Melanie's plan provided income while she recovered. "We had freedom to pay for what we needed and still had extra for the
unexpected costs," Chris said.
"Having disability insurance let us enjoy our time with Nate instead of worrying about Chris picking up another job,"
Melanie said. "It has been an enjoyable experience and I think one of the biggest reasons was that throughout it all, we didn't have to worry about money."
Even today, Melanie and Chris can rest easy knowing their family is covered financially should they have to deal with another unexpected sickness or injury.
One Family's Story