Emily Progin, Content Manager
eprogin@helphopelive.org / 800.642.8399
HELP NEEDED FOR SINGLE MOM IN NEED OF HEART TRANSPLANT
After Fleeing Domestic Violence, Dominique Received Life-Changing Diagnosis
ALLEN, Texas—34-year-old Dominique, a single mother of two who fled domestic violence, is living with a unique and life-changing medical diagnosis: postpartum cardiomyopathy. Her community is coming together to lend help and hope during a time of overwhelming need through a medical fundraising campaign with the nonprofit Help Hope Live.
She grew up in constantly changing circumstances, living in a hotel with her mother and then making her own way as a homeless runaway. As she was navigating the immense challenges of this life, she found what she thought would change her life “my knight in shining armor”—a veteran with severe PTSD.
Dominique’s knight in shining armor revealed himself to be an abusive and violent partner. He threatened her life and her son’s life until she found the courage to flee. Today, she goes by only her first name to prevent her former partner from locating her and her children.
“That’s when I found out I was pregnant with our daughter,” she explained. After her daughter was born, Dominique received the shocking news that she was living with postpartum cardiomyopathy.
“It shook my entire world,” she explained. Dominique relies on a defibrillator to keep her heart functional—when she experiences ventricular tachycardia, the device shocks her to keep her heart pumping. She lives with constant shortness of breath, low blood pressure, headaches, chest pain, and frequent discomfort.
Dominique is awaiting her chance for a healthier future: a heart transplant.
She will need to move her family to Chicago to pursue the gift of life and post-transplant recovery. A heart transplant can cost over $1.6 million with multiple expenses insurance doesn’t fully cover, particularly medical relocation.
“I don’t have a big family, and my PTSD and social anxiety are overwhelming,” said Dominique. That’s why Dominique turned to the nonprofit Help Hope Live.
Donations can be made at: https://helphopelive.org/campaign/22746/
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
