If there is one word that describes my wife, Loralee Mills, it would be FIGHTER. Why, you ask? Lora has had to fight her entire life with a congenital heart defect called Tricuspid Atresia. This defect sounds complicated, right? In short, she was born without the chamber in the heart that pumps oxygen through the blood, which of course, is critical. But, I still haven’t told you why Lora is a FIGHTER, have I? Well, according to the doctors in 1979 she was not going to live past a few hours… um, yeah right… FIGHTER. If you were to ask Lora how many times she’s lain on an operating table or hospital bed about to be pronounced dead she would say she’s lost count.

Lora is a truly giving and strong person. Though she has always been told that she can never have kids, that hasn’t stopped her from being a foster mom. It has gotten to the point that doing something like a load of laundry makes her feel like she just walked five miles. I have told her millions of times to relax and not overdo herself, but she continues to fight as if she has a normal heart.

Lora desperately needs a heart transplant in order to survive. At this moment, she is in the hospital waiting for the gift of life. Transplants are life-saving but incredibly expensive. Relocating to be near Shands Hospital in Gainesville for many months and life-long anti-rejection medications are two of the several large expenses we are facing.

To help with this financial burden, a fundraising campaign in Loralee’s honor has been established with HelpHOPELive, a nonprofit organization that has been assisting the transplant community for 30 years. All donations are tax-deductible, are held by HelpHOPELive in the Southeast Heart Transplant Fund, and are administered by HelpHOPELive for transplant-related expenses only. Please consider making a donation.

Thank you!

Sincerely,
Michael Mills
863-660-6127