My mom’s life was altered when she took me to see Niagara Falls eight years ago. She contracted Legionnaires Disease while we were staying at a motel in New York. The disease attacked and damaged her heart. She was misdiagnosed for several of the beginning years of her illness. Finally it was discovered that her heart had been damaged by the Legionnaires Disease. She was treated with medicine and cardiac rehab but despite her best efforts, her heart was unable to recover. Mom was forced to retire early from her teaching career and her heart condition has been declining ever since.
You might know my mom from one of her many activities. She has been a school teacher, church liturgist, Cub Scout leader, Sunday school teacher, foster parent, junior high basketball coach, and extra-curricular activities leader, as well as being involved in many other community service and volunteer endeavors. Some examples include: fundraising to help Meals on Wheels, March of Dimes, and the Salvation Army. She has always been listed to be an organ donor at the time of her death. She helped me get involved in ringing a Salvation Army bell since I was five and a helper on the Somerset Cluster United Methodist Church Handicapped Ramp and Needy Home projects after I turned 12. She had been a Red Cross blood donor for many years thanks to her father’s (Pop) example which inspired me to follow in the same footsteps. Mom really looks forward to the opportunity to get back out there working to make a difference again!
After many years of helping others, my mom is now in need of our help. She needs a heart transplant to get active again. Transplantation, follow-up medications and testing are very expensive. Insurance and, when she qualifies, Medicare coverage pays some of the costs, but there are many co-pays for testing, medications, and follow-up visits as well as other expenses that won’t be covered.
To help with financial burden of Mom’s uninsured expenses, a fundraising campaign in her honor has been established with HelpHOPELive, a trusted nonprofit organization that has been providing community-based fundraising guidance to patients and their families for more than 30 years. All donations are tax-deductible, are held by HelpHOPELive in the Mid-Atlantic Heart Transplant Fund in Kim’s name, and are administered by HelpHOPELive for transplant-related expenses only. Please consider a contribution.
If we all work together, we can make my mother’s prospects for the future much brighter.
Thank you for your support.
Gratefully,
Reggie Rhodes
Contact us @ 814-279-7273 or dusti83@hotmail.com
