Hi everyone,
I never imagined I’d be writing something like this, but I started this GoFundMe for my friend Amanda and her family after a medical emergency that changed everything for them in a matter of minutes.
On Friday, February, 13th, at around 10pm, Amanda went into sudden cardiac arrest at home. Her husband, Tyler, found her unresponsive with no pulse and not breathing. Tyler immediately began compressions and called 911.
After several minutes, he was able to get a faint pulse, but it didn’t hold. When deputies, firefighters, and paramedics arrived, they took over care right away. They used a defibrillator twice and were able to regain and maintain a pulse before transporting her to Loma Linda University Medical Center.
In the middle of the most traumatic moment of his life, Tyler remained incredibly calm, following instructions from dispatch, coordinating with first responders, notifying her family who lives out of state, and made sure their four-month-old baby was cared for, all while fighting to save his wife.
At the hospital, Amanda was admitted through the ER, then the ICU, and later moved to a telemetry unit once she stabilized. Doctors performed procedures to check for blockages in her arteries, but everything came back clear. While that was good news, it also meant they were still searching for answers.
Doctors later determined the cause was peripartum cardiomyopathy — a rare form of heart failure that can happen during the last month of pregnancy or in the months following delivery. It weakens the heart muscle and can lead to life-threatening heart rhythm complications. Amanda had shown no warning signs or symptoms beforehand. There was nothing she or anyone else could have done to prepare for it, considering she was a perfectly healthy 30 year old, which made the shock of it all even more devastating.
She was then transferred to a second hospital where she remained under close monitoring. On day 12, she underwent surgery to have a permanent defibrillator implanted. Thankfully, the surgery went well. On day 13 — thirteen days after the original cardiac arrest — she was finally able to return home. She continues her recovery there, closely monitored by her husband and family, focusing on healing while also continuing to breastfeed for her baby boy through it all.
Amanda had been off work on maternity leave since October after giving birth to their baby boy and had been preparing to return to work soon. That timeline has since become uncertain. They have been living on Tyler’s income alone, and due to a previous injury he sustained while on duty right before baby Rhett was born, he had also needed to take time off and hadn’t been able to work much overtime. With a newborn at home who depended fully on his mom, this was overwhelming in every way.
The ambulance, emergency response, ICU stay, procedures, second hospital transfer, and surgery has been leading to medical bills that are quickly piling up.
If you felt led to give, it would mean so much to their family. Please don’t feel obligated — Amanda and Tyler would never want anyone to feel pressured. If you would like to help in another way, the family would also be incredibly grateful for meals dropped off at their home. They have a full house, her parents are staying with them helping with the baby. Amanda won’t be able to hold her baby for several weeks after surgery, due to the placement of the ICD, so it truly will be an all hands on deck situation caring for her and their little one.
They are incredibly grateful she was still here, and she is so thankful to have such a strong support system.
Thank you for loving and supporting her family during this unexpected season.