Kathleen Donnelly has been a helper her entire life. She’s been a nurse. She’s been a single mother to her two daughters. She worked with children and families with HIV/AIDS. But now she needs OUR help as she recovers from a life-saving liver transplant.

Kathleen is a private person, so you might not have known that she’s been struggling with diabetes-induced liver disease for years. The decline in her liver function has led to encephalopathy, severe memory loss, and disorientation. The consequences have been life-altering. She could no longer work as a pediatric nurse manager and was ruled legally disabled. Driving became unsafe. Her medications wreaked havoc with her digestion. She couldn’t travel to visit her grandkids in Boston, and it became nerve-wracking to leave the house. Even at home, she often didn’t have the energy to create the wonderful meals she loved to prepare. Over time, she lost much of her identity.

The transplant will allow Kathleen to take back her life. But it also presents many financial challenges. Kathleen and her husband, Stan, will need to pay for temporary housing near Yale New Haven as she begins her recovery. There will be expenses for in-home nursing care and medication management. Even after returning home, they will face transportation costs for bi-weekly visits to the Yale transplant clinic. Other increased costs will include special diets, physical and occupational therapy, psychotherapy, and other alternative treatments not covered by Medicare or insurance.

We are asking for your support so Kathleen can have the best chance of making a full recovery and a new lease on life.

She is so grateful for her new liver and the opportunities it will afford her. She dreams of returning to her lifetime of helping—this time with children and animals in need.