Hi, my name is Brittany. My brothers, Jayson and Randy, and I have started this fundraiser on behalf of our mom, Anna Vara-Velez. On the evening of September 22, 2023, our mom suffered a ruptured aortic aneurysm that caused a tear in her aorta. She was at home when she began feeling heart-attack-like symptoms and was somehow able to call 9-1-1. She was transported to Medical City Lewisville, but had to subsequently be careflighted to Medical City Plano to undergo emergency open-heart surgery to repair her aorta. Her chances of surviving both the ruptured aneurysm and the surgery were slim, but she made it through the surgery successfully. She is now recovering in the ICU. She spent 6 days on a ventilator and is still on a feeding tube. Because she spent so much time sedated and on a ventilator, she is extremely weak and is having to learn how to walk and stand on her own again.

Although she is making great improvement, our mom has a very long road to recovery. She will be unable to live alone or work for at least the next 3 months, likely longer. She will have to do extensive physical and cardiac rehabilitation for the next few months. She won’t even be able to lift her arms for at least the next 6-8 weeks because of how fragile her chest/sternum is from the surgery. Our mom was very independent prior to this incident, so her recovery journey will be a very trying time for her.

Our mom does have health insurance, but on top of her copays and deductibles, she will be under enormous financial strain because of her inability to work or generate income within the next several months. We're starting this fundraiser to help ease our mom's financial burden that will arise from the unexpected out-of-pocket medical bills and her living expenses. Please help us raise money to support her during her road to recovery. Your donations, love, and support are greatly appreciated by our family.