Kristin King

Heart to Heart: A Fundraiser for Kristin’s New Beginning


In the heart of Montgomery County, Maryland, a dedicated special education teacher and Special Olympics cheerleading coach, Kristin King, has faced a journey that exemplifies resilience, hope, and the strength of community. At 35, Kristin, along with her husband Gavyn, 15-year-old daughter Taylor, 13-year-old stepson Grady, and the newest addition, Gage, encountered an unforeseen challenge that would test their family’s strength and endurance.

Just two weeks after the joyous arrival of baby Gage in April, Kristin experienced shortness of breath that led her to the hospital. The diagnosis was Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM), a rare form of heart failure occurring in late pregnancy and/or the weeks following delivery. Kristin’s heart was functioning at only 10% capacity, and her condition quickly escalated, culminating in cardiogenic shock and an emergency airlift to Washington Hospital Center.


Despite initial hopes that her heart would regain function, Kristin’s condition deteriorated. Facing the harsh reality that her left ventricle could no longer pump blood adequately, her 60-person cardiac heart failure team decided to place her on the transplant list. With great anticipation and an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) placed in her heart, as well as a semi-permanent IV with medication, to sustain her life until her perfect match arrived, Kristin’s transplant journey began.

She became a light for herself, other patients, and her transplant team, especially her nurses. She called them her hospital angels as they looked after her 24/7 and they got her through the toughest time in her life. Kristin chose hope and leaned into her Faith to get through living in ICU for an undetermined amount of time. She actively tried to get to know every patient on the unit and lift their spirits, as it also lifted hers. She gained lifelong friendships and attachments. Ever since being home, she has worked on building gifts for the holidays for the entire unit staff, physicians, heart failure team, as she feels she owes them everything because they were her everything.

Months of being in the cardiovascular ICU was not without pain, either physically or emotionally, but finally, on September 11th, Kristin received her new heart. Minor complications arose and were addressed (4 surgeries, a clot in her sub-clavian artery, seeing her heart sister go through heart rejection and pain, and seeing the trauma of ICU) but Kristin was joyously discharged on September 26th to continue her recovery at home. Kristin will start cardiac rehabilitation in December for about 3-6 months. 


Throughout this arduous journey, Kristin has maintained an inspiring positivity, supported by the unwavering love of her family and friends. However, the aftermath of the transplant has taken a toll on the entire family. Gavyn, Kristin’s devoted husband, has had to take a significant amount of time off work to care for Kristin, their two teenagers, and 6 month old Gage. Her mom, dad, and Gage’s godparents have watched Gage while Kristin was hospitalized, during her clinic visits back to the hospital, and while Kristin was not independent or able to hold her newborn.

At this time, because of the high risk of infection to Kristin, along with the high risk of rejection in the first year post-transplant, it is uncertain when Kristin can return to work or to her career as she would be surrounded by elementary school-aged children.

As Kristin and her family navigate this new chapter and embark on a journey to rebuild their lives, we invite you to join our community in supporting Kristin and her family through this fundraising initiative. Your tax deductible contribution, no matter the size, will help alleviate the financial strain caused by medical bills, ongoing treatments, rehabilitation, monthly medications, and loss of work, and bring them one step closer to ensuring a brighter, healthier future for Kristin and her beautiful family. Let’s rally together and show them the power of community, compassion, love, and light, like Kristin showed in the hospital.

We have chosen to fundraise for Kristin through Help Hope Live because your donation is tax deductible for you AND for Kristin (as opposed to funds raised through GoFundMe which are taxable as income).

For more information, please contact Help Hope Live at 800.642.8399.

Thank you for your support!