ADA Van for Amanda

My name is Amanda and I really need your help but I need to provide my story so you can better understand my request. In July of 2019 I was in the hospital about to give birth to my baby girl when tragedy struck. My baby girl, Mila, was in my womb and was healthy but 2 months away from full term. Her twin brother, Vinny, had already passed away inside me due to umbilical cord complications so I was already dealing with the grief of that loss. The physician was in my room and about to exam me when baby Mila decided it was time for her to enter the world. I pushed once and on the second push I passed out. I awoke 8 weeks later in the ICU with a ventilator helping me to breathe and more IVs and monitors connected to me that I can’t begin to describe. I later was told I had an Amniotic Fluid Embolism, AFE for short, that caused me to stop breathing and that caused my heart to stop. I was told that the CPR team at the hospital performed over 37 minutes of CPR on me and that my heart had stopped twice more in that timeframe and that I had multiple strokes. I was also told that my liver was lacerated during CPR and my family was told I would not survive the next 24 hours. By the grace of God, I survived but I have no recollection of any of this.

I met my daughter a few days later and was so grateful and thankful that she survived and was in good health, but I will always regret that I never had an opportunity to see my son and say goodbye to him. I couldn’t hold my daughter for months because my arms were weak from atrophy and my legs… well that was another surprise. I found out that in order for me to survive the doctors put me on a heart/lung machine and I was on that machine for an extended time. Because of that my right leg developed blood clots that could not be treated, and the leg died requiring it to be amputated up to my hip. I didn’t know about this for a few weeks after I awoke when my doctor and husband broke that news to me. I was never going to be the same and to say I was depressed and despondent would be a great understatement.

Before I was released from the hospital, I was given an electric wheelchair that I could steer and adjust by using a joystick. After 10 months of being in the hospital my husband and I moved into my parent’s home because it could best accommodate my wheelchair. It has taken me a couple of years, but I have regained strength in my arms and my many wounds from my hospital stay have healed to a degree that I have been given the ok to drive. The unfortunate part of this is that I need a vehicle that can accommodate my wheelchair and these vehicles, in a used condition, cost over $45,000. Before all of this stuff happened to me my husband and I ran a small home remodeling business and while I was in the hospital the business floundered as my husband spent most of his days with me. My role in the business was to schedule appointments with prospective clients, provide estimates, and to help my husband by picking up supplies for the job he was working so he could complete the job in a timely fashion. Without my help my husband is doing everything on his own and it is financially harming the business. We can’t survive if this continues, so having a vehicle, I can drive will permit me to help my husband by driving myself to my many doctor and physical therapy appointments, run shopping errands, and to pick up supplies and deliver them to the job site so he can spend his time completing jobs in a timely manner.

I will also honestly tell you what a difference it will make for me personally as it will provide me with an independence that I haven’t felt in years. It is so difficult to always have to rely on others so I can do even the smallest of chores and while I am getting stronger it is such a slow process that I sometimes think I will never feel like an independent functional human being again. There are days were getting out of bed is a great accomplishment on its own.

So, this is my story and why I need your help. I know times are tight for many of us and contributing to my cause may not be a priority, but I want you to know that any amount you contribute will be so greatly appreciated by me, Mila, and Mario. I also want you to know that I plan on paying it forward. If this event has taught me one thing it is to never take life for granted and to reach out and help others as I have had to reach out to others for help.