Dear Friends,

I am writing on behalf of my thirty-five-year-old husband, Greg Crotzer. In September, 2010 Greg was diagnosed with end-stage cardiomyopathy, a disease that has no other treatment other than a heart transplant. Currently, Greg is being kept alive by the use of two artificial hearts in the hope that they will sustain him long enough to undergo a heart transplant in the next several months. Greg has spent the past four months in the hospital and has endured countless procedures and surgeries, all in the hope that he will live long enough to receive his wonderful “gift of life.”

A “good news” update — on August 5 Greg received his “gift of life” — his heart transplant.
Greg is a loving husband, a dedicated and devoted father of five young children, and an incredibly talented chef. Unfortunately, Greg has had to quit working to focus on his health, so the lack of income has proved to be difficult for us.
Although Greg has insurance, we are facing many uninsured transplant related expenses such as: co-pays and deductibles, doctor visits, travel expenses and the costly immunosuppressant medications that he will have to take for the rest of his life. Doctors estimate his lifetime post-transplant medical care will exceed $30,000 a year. Fundraising is essential to the overall success of Greg’s outcome, especially now that the transplant has taken place and bills will begin to accumulate.
To help with some of these uninsured transplant-related expenses, Greg’s family and friends have established a fundraising campaign in his honor with HelpHOPELive. HelpHOPELive is a non profit organization that has been providing fundraising assistance to the transplant community for more than 28 years. If you would like to make a tax deductible contribution: