Friends of a Santa Clarita law enforcement officer who suffered a stroke recently are reaching out to the community for help.

Rick Welch suffered a stroke Monday, July 31, and was rushed to the emergency room, according to a YouCaring page created by friend Diana De La Maza.

Click here for the link to the page.

He’s currently in stable condition, but physical therapy can be a long and costly journey, especially when the treatment requires frequent trips to Bakersfield.

“The YouCaring was a way of helping offset the cost of everything,” said De La Maza, ASB coordinator at Hart High, whose husband partnered with Welch.

Welch has served in Santa Clarita since 2002, and De La Maza praised him for being a giving person who supports youth programs, in addition to his service in law enforcement.

“He’s great husband and father to his wife and three kids, a hard-working man who works as much as he can to help out,” she said, adding he’s also a longtime coach for the local Warriors youth football program.

Perhaps as a testament to his generosity, the community has responded quickly to the web page that was put up only Sunday night. There have already been more than 400 shares and nearly 100  donors.

“He’s given back to many boys over the years to help that program out,” De La Maza said. “He’s just a wonderful guy, funny guy and with a great sense of humor and he goes above and beyond for anybody.”

According to the YouCaring page:

“Welch (requires) much constant care over a significant time period, and the doctors will be relocating him to an inpatient rehabilitation center in Bakersfield to help him with the repercussions of the stroke. This care is a necessity to bring Rick back home with his family.”

The support would be a nice help for Rick and his family, De La Maza said, who will have quite a bit to deal with between the travel, lost work and recovery time needed alone.

“Any time something like that happens, the stress of the financials comes into play,” De La Maza said, “and we want Rick to be able to focus (on) getting better.”

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