Connor Gillespie's Recovery & Care Fund
Donation protected
On May 6th, 2019 Daniel and Danielle’s world turned upside down as their 2-year old son, Connor, became very ill. They went to the pediatrician as Connor had stopped walking. Things quickly escalated and Connor became hospitalized with irreversible kidney failure due to a rare disease. Connor has already lost 90% function of both kidneys, and it will likely only worsen. At that point, Daniel and Danielle knew there would be a long road ahead, and that Connor would need ongoing dialysis in preparation for a transplant, however they had no way of preparing for what quickly followed.
A catheter was inserted into his abdomen in hopes Connor and his parents could return home and receive dialysis there. After a much too short of a stay at home, Connor became sick and aspirated. He went into acute respiratory failure requiring intubation in the ER. He was then life flighted to Children’s Hospital in Omaha. Shortly after admission he experienced two separate cardiac arrests where his heart stopped for five minutes each requiring full CPR. He was then placed on a last resort life saving device called “ECMO”. He survived this but as a result of oxygen depletion, his MRI showed significant injury to the right side of the brain. This resulted in left sided weakness and other probable neurological deficits which are yet to be discovered. After 12 days he was finally breathing on his own and removed from the ventilator. After long days and sleepless nights Daniel and Danielle are happy to report that Connor is slowly recovering and undergoing intensive rehabilitation therapy. Every day is a milestone, and he continues to improve in strength as he is slowly regaining mobility of his left side. We celebrate the baby steps on his road to recovery, however the road to recovery is long.
There is no doubt Connor is a fighter, and he will continue the battle with his loving parents at his side. However, this will be an uphill climb of recovery, dialysis and an eventual transplant. Daniel and Danielle are the most amazing parents and their strength is truly inspiring. They have lived at Children’s the last 6 weeks, and Daniel has commuted to work in Lincoln at 5 am. The amount of stress they face on a daily basis (emotional, physical and financial) is unfathomable. For this reason, I have started this GoFundMe page. Please know Daniel and Danielle did not ask me to do this; I offered. This page was started by Cara Gillespie Van Sant (Daniel’s cousin), in hopes that we can help relieve some stress on the financial side while they focus on caring for Connor and taking care of themselves so they have the strength to tackle each day as it comes.
Any funds raised will be used solely by Daniel and Danielle Gillespie at their discretion for Connor’s care and benefit. Thank you for your consideration.
A catheter was inserted into his abdomen in hopes Connor and his parents could return home and receive dialysis there. After a much too short of a stay at home, Connor became sick and aspirated. He went into acute respiratory failure requiring intubation in the ER. He was then life flighted to Children’s Hospital in Omaha. Shortly after admission he experienced two separate cardiac arrests where his heart stopped for five minutes each requiring full CPR. He was then placed on a last resort life saving device called “ECMO”. He survived this but as a result of oxygen depletion, his MRI showed significant injury to the right side of the brain. This resulted in left sided weakness and other probable neurological deficits which are yet to be discovered. After 12 days he was finally breathing on his own and removed from the ventilator. After long days and sleepless nights Daniel and Danielle are happy to report that Connor is slowly recovering and undergoing intensive rehabilitation therapy. Every day is a milestone, and he continues to improve in strength as he is slowly regaining mobility of his left side. We celebrate the baby steps on his road to recovery, however the road to recovery is long.
There is no doubt Connor is a fighter, and he will continue the battle with his loving parents at his side. However, this will be an uphill climb of recovery, dialysis and an eventual transplant. Daniel and Danielle are the most amazing parents and their strength is truly inspiring. They have lived at Children’s the last 6 weeks, and Daniel has commuted to work in Lincoln at 5 am. The amount of stress they face on a daily basis (emotional, physical and financial) is unfathomable. For this reason, I have started this GoFundMe page. Please know Daniel and Danielle did not ask me to do this; I offered. This page was started by Cara Gillespie Van Sant (Daniel’s cousin), in hopes that we can help relieve some stress on the financial side while they focus on caring for Connor and taking care of themselves so they have the strength to tackle each day as it comes.
Any funds raised will be used solely by Daniel and Danielle Gillespie at their discretion for Connor’s care and benefit. Thank you for your consideration.
Organizer and beneficiary
Cara Van Sant
Organizer
Boise, ID
Dan Gillespie
Beneficiary
