Maurice Gelinas

Maurice Gelinas Needs Your Help to Get a Heart Transplant

Sometimes life can be turned upside down in a moment. That moment came for Maurice on Jan. 4, 2012, when he suffered a massive heart attack. He was hospitalized for over a month and his heart was severely damaged, leaving him unable to continue his lawn care business and barely able to accomplish the smallest daily tasks. He was hospitalized numerous times over the next couple of years, as his condition continued to deteriorate. Then one day he was blessed to meet Dr. Cristiano Caldeira, a gifted cardiologist who introduced him to a new treatment for heart failure called a Left Ventricular Assist Device or LVAD. In December of 2013, Maurice became the very first patient in Charlotte County to be implanted with an LVAD and it has greatly improved his quality of life, allowing him to have the energy to do so much that he couldn’t before, including playing with his grandkids, visiting with friends and family, playing his guitar and working in the yard.

As beneficial as the LVAD has been, Maurice’s doctors believe that it should only be used as a bridge to a heart transplant, which should have much better long-term success. He has completed the screening for the transplant program at Tampa General Hospital and it has been determined that he is an excellent candidate. While Medicare will pay for most of the cost of the surgery and care, there will be many other costs that will not be covered, including travel to and from doctor appointments in Tampa from Maurice’s home in Port Charlotte, as well as the high cost of life sustaining anti-rejection medications. We must raise $8300 before he can be placed on the waiting list, which will cover these expenses for at least the first six months after transplant.

We have chosen to fundraise with HelpHOPELive in part because HelpHOPELive assures fiscal accountability of funds raised and tax deductibility for donors. Donors can be sure that funds donated will be used only to pay or reimburse medically-related expenses. To make a tax-deductible donation to this fundraising campaign, click on the Donate Now button.

For more information, please contact HelpHOPELive at 800.642.8399.

Many of our amazing family members, co-workers, and church family have been with us all along, praying Maurice through every valley and blessing us financially and we are absolutely overwhelmed with gratitude. Thank you so very much for your continued prayers and support and God bless each one of you.

Barbara Gelinas