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COMMUNITY RALLYING TO HELP MOM GET KIDNEY TRANSPLANT
Over $1,400 Raised to Help Elizabethtown’s Shannon Bronson
ELIZABETHTOWN, N.Y.—The Elizabethtown community is rallying to provide help and hope to Shannon Bronson, a wife, mom, and grandmom who needs a kidney transplant to survive. As she seeks out a potential living kidney donor, her community is partnering with the nonprofit Help Hope Live to offset the financial burden of a transplant. They have raised over $1,400 so far.
Shannon was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease or PKD while she was five months pregnant with her daughter. During a routine ultrasound, doctors detected the same kidney issue that her mother struggled with. PKD is a genetic illness with no cure that causes kidneys to enlarge and lose function. “A typical kidney is the size of your fist,” explained Shannon. “Mine is five times that size.”
Shannon grew up in Elizabethtown and moved away, but she returned to the area in 2019. She is married with a daughter, 30, and a son, 35, and she has two grandchildren.
Day to day, PKD leaves Shannon very fatigued with low energy, shortness of breath, and cognitive fog. She can no longer participate in daily activities like she once did. A kidney transplant is Shannon’s only option to fight back against PKD.
Kidney transplants are life-saving but extremely expensive. One of Shannon’s top needs is traveling to Vermont for the transplant and follow-up care, which is an hour and 15 minutes from her home in Elizabethtown. She will need to cover about $8,000 out-of-pocket to secure dependable care and safe transportation for a year post-transplant.
That’s why she started fundraising with the trusted national nonprofit Help Hope Live. Donations can be made at: https://helphopelive.org/campaign/22162/
Unlike a GoFundMe campaign, donations to Help Hope Live are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law, and all funds raised will be managed by the nonprofit to cover verified medical and related expenses. Help Hope Live verifies medical and financial need for every patient.
Help Hope Live is a national nonprofit that specializes in engaging communities in secure, tax-deductible fundraising campaigns for people who need a transplant or are affected by a catastrophic injury or illness. Since 1983, campaigns organized by Help Hope Live have raised over $172 million to pay patient expenses. ###
Written by Emily Progin
