A Heart for Krystina
Donation protected
My name is Joanna and my daughter Ryley, the little girl pictured above, received a heart transplant in 2006 when she was only 7 months old. Thankfully her wait was short and her recovery went well and she is now a beautiful, healthy nine year old. Sitting beside Ryley is our cousin Krystina. Krystina is 27 years old. She has 3 children or her own and 1 step-son. In 2010, she thought she had the flu. It turned out to be congestive heart failure caused by the same condition as my daughter, dilated cardiomyopathy. On June 11 of that year, she had mechanical heart pump inserted called an LVAD or a left ventricular assist device. It works for her heart until she is able to receive the gift of life, a new heart. Krystina has now had the LVAD for 4 years and continues to wait for her gift of life.
We did not know Krystina when she was diagnosed. Her mom, who also passed away from congestive heart failure because she did not receive her gift of life in time, had been given up for adoption by my aunt. In 2011 when a newspaper did a story about Krystina, I read it, friended her on FB and after connecting some dots, realized that we were related. Her mom was my first cousin. We have been blessed to have her part of our family and thankful that we were able to provide some genetic information to her doctors.
We are so thankful for the care and support we received from our friends, family and community while our daughter Ryley went through her heart transplant. Unfortunately, there are not the same financial supports for adults waiting for transplants as there are for children. The expenses for gas and parking from Hamilton to Toronto alone are high. There are food expenses, child care when Krystina does receive her gift, accomodations for family to stay close by etc. We hope that Krystina can be blessed with the same support that we received. The stress on her and her children are difficult enough without having to worry about finances. We want them to be able to focus now on keeping her healthy for when she receives that call, and on recovery once she recieves her gift.
I have started off by setting up this page to accept donations but if there is anyone willing to help out with other fundraising efforts, the help would be very much appreciated!
-Joanna (mom to Ryley, cousin to Krystina)
beadonor.ca
We did not know Krystina when she was diagnosed. Her mom, who also passed away from congestive heart failure because she did not receive her gift of life in time, had been given up for adoption by my aunt. In 2011 when a newspaper did a story about Krystina, I read it, friended her on FB and after connecting some dots, realized that we were related. Her mom was my first cousin. We have been blessed to have her part of our family and thankful that we were able to provide some genetic information to her doctors.
We are so thankful for the care and support we received from our friends, family and community while our daughter Ryley went through her heart transplant. Unfortunately, there are not the same financial supports for adults waiting for transplants as there are for children. The expenses for gas and parking from Hamilton to Toronto alone are high. There are food expenses, child care when Krystina does receive her gift, accomodations for family to stay close by etc. We hope that Krystina can be blessed with the same support that we received. The stress on her and her children are difficult enough without having to worry about finances. We want them to be able to focus now on keeping her healthy for when she receives that call, and on recovery once she recieves her gift.
I have started off by setting up this page to accept donations but if there is anyone willing to help out with other fundraising efforts, the help would be very much appreciated!
-Joanna (mom to Ryley, cousin to Krystina)
beadonor.ca
Organizer
Joanna Mitchell
Organizer
Woodstock, ON
