Emily Progin, Content Manager
[email protected] / 800.642.8399
Release: Immediate
RALLYING TO HELP 4-MONTH-OLD WITH RARE MEDICAL ISSUES
Help “Small but Mighty” Baby Sutton to Grow Up Healthy
HINESVILLE, Ga.—On May 23, the Simmons family was blessed with their newest member: Sutton Simmons. Born with complex medical challenges, Sutton requires around-the-clock care. Her loving community has started fundraising with the trusted nonprofit Help Hope Live to assist with critical out-of-pocket medical costs.
Parents Amber and Russell Simmons call their baby girl, “small but mighty: Sutton is the happiest, sweetest baby.” Born through IVF, Sutton was transferred to the NICU for her first 40 days of life as she learned how to eat, grow, and thrive.
Medical interventions began immediately: Sutton required a breathing tube and medication, a G tube for nutrition, and intensive care to treat multiple complex diagnoses. Turning 4 months old in September, Sutton is a growing miracle who requires 24-hour care and regular therapy sessions to grow up healthy and strong.
Father Russell had to leave his job as an electrician’s assistant to become Sutton’s full-time caregiver. Mom Amber is a registered nurse at an army base hospital—the family now relies on her income alone to stay afloat while caring for both Sutton and her big sister, Skylar, who is 9 years old.
Amber and Russell have lived in the area for nearly a decade and maintain close local ties to First Baptist Church in Ludowici. As they face these unexpected emotional, medical, and financial challenges, community support is a key ingredient to their hope for the future.
Through a Facebook support group, Amber found the nonprofit Help Hope Live. The community is now providing a critical financial lifeline through a fundraising campaign with the nonprofit at: https://helphopelive.org/campaign/26223/
“We are managing ongoing medical bills, co-pays, frequent travel to appointments, and many other medical supplies that insurance doesn’t cover, all on a single income,” Amber explained. “Sutton works so hard in physical therapy and feeding therapy. Every donation and gesture helps us to give her the best care possible.”
Upcoming fundraisers—including plans for t-shirts—will rally under the slogan, “Strength for Sutton.”
Unlike a GoFundMe campaign, donations to Help Hope Live are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law, and all funds raised will be administered 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 $188 million to pay patient expenses. ###
