DES MOINES, Iowa–After learning about Tim Krachenfels’ illness–and about his family’s dedication to former President Donald Trump’s campaign–Trump ally Kari Lake was so touched that she decided to visit the hospitalized father of 12 at MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center.
Ms. Lake, a U.S. Senate hopeful from Arizona, showed up at Mr. Krachenfels’ hospital bedside on Jan. 13 and asked him to tell her a little more about his situation. Then she prayed with him.
“It was a real heartfelt prayer about our country, about my family ... about President Trump. And it was just really kind of a really special time; it was encouraging,” Mr. Krachenfels, 45, told The Epoch Times hours later.
Before visiting Mr. Krachenfels, Ms. Lake had spoken to news reporters and volunteers at the Trump campaign’s office in Urbandale.
On Saturday, the Krachenfelses’ eldest son, Jayce, 22, met Ms. Lake and mentioned his father’s predicament, leading to the hospital visit.
Mr. Krachenfels’ wife, Terra, 46, told The Epoch Times that Ms. Lake’s visit helped perk up her husband.
“It’s amazing how just something simple like that lifts your spirits and can help you heal,” she said. “That is the way the Trump campaign is, though. I feel like they are a big family.”
“And they’re representing Trump’s heart, because that’s how Trump is. He genuinely cares about people.”
She and her husband recounted the events leading to his hospitalization.
The couple were in the audience for President Trump’s Fox News town hall on Jan. 10 at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. That night, after several days of feeling crummy, he started feeling worse. But he thought it was just a flare-up of a preexisting medical problem.
It turned out to be more than that. His prior condition combined with the flu and resulted in a blood infection, he later learned.
During the wee hours of Jan. 11, he went to an emergency room but was discharged. Hours later, he felt worse. He was unable to breathe. An ambulance crew had just arrived at their home in West Des Moines. It was clear he would be heading to a hospital.
And that’s when the couple told their Trump-campaigning children that nothing, not even their father’s hospitalization, should deter them from their mission.
“I told them I wanted them to stay there and continue doing what they’re doing for the Trump campaign,” Mr. Krachenfels said. “It’s kind of a critical time for President Trump and the caucus and our country, and they’ve been so dedicated to it. I didn’t want them to sacrifice all their time to be able to just go and be with me at the hospital.”
“We both just kept saying ... You need to keep working for Trump. You need to keep going; you need to help save America,” Mrs. Krachenfels said.
Mr. Krachenfels, who was transferred to another hospital that had more room, said he could be discharged on Sunday.
During an interview at the Urbandale campaign office on Saturday, Jayce Krachenfels told The Epoch Times that he and other volunteers had assembled a couple of hundred yard signs.
The center, located in a small plaza, was abuzz with volunteers making last-minute phone calls on Saturday afternoon, urging people to go to Caucus Night on Monday and vote for President Trump.
Ms. Lake told The Epoch Times: “There’s no place on the planet I'd rather be than right here in Iowa at this amazing monumental moment in history.”
“Iowa is going to make history on Monday night,” she said.
“As I look out at these beautiful people … it brings a tear to my eye that this many Americans—with a lot going on in their lives—are here on a Saturday morning doing everything they can to make sure we save our country,” Ms. Lake said.
“That’s what this is. It’s about getting President Trump elected and it’s about saving our Republic.”
