<div><em>Updated: January 31, 2026</em>
</div>
<div><strong>Current Condition</strong>
</div>
<div>My wife is one of only about 20 documented people in the world to suffer this catastrophic reaction to Bactrim. Only about half are known to have survived.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>She is now the longest person in Washington state history to remain on life support, fighting for her life at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with critical lung failure. There is no established cure. She is being kept alive by ECMO, a machine that temporarily performs the function of her lungs. She is now on her 4th life support machine due to mechanical failures with the last three ECMO machines.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>At <strong>1:30 a.m. on January 29, 2026</strong>, the <strong>ECMO machine malfunctioned,</strong> causing her to lose most of her blood. Her <strong>heart stopped, and she died for approximately four minutes</strong>. 
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>How This Began</strong>
</div>
<div>Before Christmas, my wife was admitted to<strong> Allenmore Hospital</strong> after being diagnosed with a kidney infection. During her week-long stay, she was <strong>roomed with a patient who had pneumonia</strong>, despite her already compromised immune system.
</div>
<div>Upon discharge from Allenmore, she was prescribed an antibiotic called<strong> Bactrim</strong>, which she took exactly as directed.
</div>
<div>After several days on the medication, we attempted to follow up with the infectious disease specialist recommended by Allenmore. We were told that her<strong> referral had been denied</strong>, that they were not accepting new patients, and that the office was closed on weekends. We were instructed to wait until Monday. That Saturday, my wife developed a rash, dizziness, and a fever.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Hospital Transfers</strong>
</div>
<div>We returned to <strong>Allenmore Hospital,</strong> where she remained for about a week. During that time, doctors told us they could not determine the cause of her illness or find a cure. They then decided it was best to transfer her to <strong>Tacoma General,</strong> where she stayed for another week.
</div>
<div>While at Tacoma General, her condition worsened until the final two days, when she became stable. Despite this stability, doctors transferred her to <strong>Harborview Medical Center </strong>due to concerns that her condition could suddenly become worse.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Rapid Decline at Harborview</strong>
</div>
<div>After arriving at Harborview, a doctor recommended a medication for her respiratory system. I advised against this because she was stable and not getting worse.<strong> </strong>Despite my concerns, the medication was introduced into her breathing apparatus.
</div>
<div>Immediately afterward, <strong>she suffered a severe reaction</strong>. She lost energy, and her supplemental oxygen had to be increased to the maximum level.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>ECMO and Critical Incidents</strong>
</div>
<div>On<strong> January 21, 2026</strong>, doctors placed her on ECMO after her lungs could no longer support her on their own. ECMO carries an estimated <strong>50% mortality </strong>rate, and she may still require a lung transplant.
</div>
<div>Since being placed on ECMO, there have been multiple critical incidents:
</div>
<ul>
<li>On <strong>January 26, 2026, around 3:20 a.m.</strong>, the ECMO machine falsely detected an air bubble, causing her blood to lose oxygen for approximately 45 seconds.
</li>
<li>On<strong> January 29, 2026, at 1:30 a.m.</strong>, the ECMO machine began leaking, spilling nearly all of her blood onto the floor. During the emergency response, <strong>her heart stopped for approximately four minutes</strong>, and she required resuscitation.
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>About My Wife and Our Situation</strong>
</div>
<div>Our first wedding anniversary is on <strong>February 1st</strong>, and <strong>she turns 25 on February 16th. </strong>I am the only family member here who can support her. She has dreamed of traveling the world since she was a child and has worked extremely hard to build that future. Before this happened, I was working to grow my small business. At this moment, both of our futures have been completely derailed.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Financial Impact</strong>
</div>
<div>The financial burden has already become overwhelming, even with insurance:
</div>
<ul>
<li>Her first week of hospitalization in December totaled <strong>$65,000</strong>
</li>
<li>By now, her ECMO treatment alone costs upward of <strong>$10 million </strong>
</li>
<li>The ECMO machine itself costs approximately <strong>$500,000</strong>
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>How Donations Will Be Used</strong>
</div>
<div>All donations will go toward medical bills and basic living expenses while I remain by her side. If, by some miracle, funds remain after medical costs are addressed, they will be used to purchase the vehicle she was saving for and to travel to national parks, something she had always dreamed of doing.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>If the outcome is fatal, 100% of the funds will go directly to her family in Brazil.</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Thank you for taking the time to read our story. Whether you donate or not, please keep my wife in your thoughts and prayers.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>A list of the complications she has survived during her hospitalization. </strong>
</div>
<ul>
<li>Rare, catastrophic Bactrim reaction that caused her immune system to attack her lungs.
</li>
<li>Complete lung failure, leaving her unable to breathe on her own.
</li>
<li>More than six months on ECMO, a life-support machine that performs the work of the lungs.
</li>
<li>A catastrophic ECMO machine failure that caused massive blood loss.
</li>
<li>Cardiac arrest, requiring emergency resuscitation.
</li>
<li>Severe damage to the right side of her heart from prolonged lung failure.
</li>
<li>Severe pulmonary hypertension (dangerously high blood pressure in the lungs).
</li>
<li>Multiple collapsed lungs, requiring repeated chest tubes.
</li>
<li>life-threatening internal gastrointestinal bleed that required emergency surgery to stop.
</li>
<li>Multiple serious infectionswhile her immune system was compromised.
</li>
<li>Months of high-dose steroids and other powerful medications to control the inflammation destroying her lungs.
</li>
<li>Overmedication with sedatives, causing significant setbacks in her recovery and rehabilitation.
</li>
<li>Severe muscle loss and physical deterioration from spending more than six months fighting for her life in the ICU.
</li>
<li>Her case has become such a medical anomaly that it is being documented for medical literature and studied because of its rarity.
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>

Epifania Sosa lopez

David Brown

Anna Leticia M Botto

Maranie Adams

Luana Lapatra

anida pope

Jeremiah McRae

Austin Truitt

Zachary Duncan

Anonymous

Joshua Sipes

SV Toledo

Marta Vilela

Maria das Gracas Oliveira

Kelsey Kelley

Robert Stein

Evelyn Morrow

Hope for Healing: Wife's 170-day battle for life.

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

Eligible for Profile Share Badge

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

isEligibleForProfileBadge

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Hope for Healing: Wife's 170-day battle for life.

Still $4,055 to go. Help us build momentum.