Brynlee Netterville

Hi everyone. For those who do not know me, I'm Samantha, Brynlee's aunt.

Our family has been through what no family should ever have to go through in these past few days, and the struggles ahead for my parents Karleen and Michael Heifort will only grow as the bills begin to stack up.

My parents have been Brynlee's legal guardian since he was 5 years old. They have also been the legal guardians of Brynlee's younger brothers, Zander (13) and Chandler "CJ" (12) since they both were about 5 and 6 years old. My mom is a stay at home "mom" and a retired LPN and my dad is a truck driver who is leased on with F6 out of West Fargo, ND.

On August 15th, my mom received a phone call from Sanford Medical Center in Fargo stating that Brynlee had been discovered unresponsive and brought in by ambulance. His condition was critical. He was found not breathing, and his heart was not beating. We are unsure how long he was unresponsive before he was found and the ambulance was called. He was placed on life support. An initial scan of his brain showed that his body had lacked oxygen for far longer than a body should, and the damage was extensive. At that point my sister Shantel called my dad and told him he needed to forget loading and come home. He was near Bismarck at the time. Within 3 hours of us arriving at the hospital, we were told we would need to make a decision of DNR because his body simply couldn't handle another resuscitation, and the chance of him having another cardiac episode was very high, so the DNR was put in place. After about another hour or so, we were informed that the chances of him coming out of this alive was slim, however, we were already aware of just how bad this really was. Sanford informed us that before we could make the decision to end life support, they needed to run an EEG to see how much brain activity was left and help determine any functionality of the organs. We were informed the test would take anywhere from 24 to 36 hours and once complete, we could make our decision. Around 4:00am on August 16th, all of Brynlee's organs began failing simultaneously. With that, the EEG was ceased, and our slim chance of him surviving turned to 0. Phone calls were made to family members to inform them that it was time, and we were all able to tell him how much we loved him and that "it's not goodbye, it's see you later." Brynlee passed away peacefully surrounded by the ones who loved him at 4:07pm on August 16th, 2023.

I am starting this fundraiser because of the financial burden this will put on my parents. They now have to worry about the funeral cost, his medical bills, and any other loose ends that may need to be tied up. My dad is the sole provider of the family and he will be out of work for awhile until things get settled down. Please remember, Brynlee also had 2 younger brothers who are also affected by this, and they are heartbroken. Their big brother was their world.

If you can find it in your heart and are able to, please donate. And even if you can't, a simple share can make the world of a difference.

With love,

Samantha