Hello, My name is Melissa and I come to you today asking for help for my Nephew Daniel Gibson and his family. My sister, Crystal is Daniels mom and oh how she loves her boy. Daniel is a bright, intelligent, caring, generous 17 year old with so many aspirations and big plans for his future. Daniel is a born Leader. He excels in everything he does because he puts his whole heart into any task or challenge that he takes on. He takes everything he does very seriously and I have no doubt in my mind that Gods purpose for him is bigger than any of us could begin to wrap our heads around. Just talking about him makes me bean with pride. Everyone who meets Daniel is better for having done so. 
            On Sunday May 15th our world was shaken to the core. Crystal was in the kitchen that evening before going to bed and Daniel had just come in and got his self a drink. They said goodnight and crystal continued on with whatever is was she was doing. She suddenly heard the cup that Daniel had just filled up crash to the floor. As she turned around she saw Daniel, laying flat in his back shaking violently. Crystal is an RN and has worked in the ER for many years but nothing prepared her for what happened that night. She ran to Daniels side and began to shake him and scream his name. She stopped and checked for a pulse. There was no heartbeat. She screamed so loud that her oldest son zack heard her from the end of their driveway and he quickly came running back to the house to see what was happening. Crystals husband Jamie, who is a firefighter, was thankfully home that evening also and called 911. Crystal said she thought maybe she was just panicking and that maybe there was heartbeat and she missed it. She checked again and confirmed what she originally knew. His heart had stopped. She continued to scream and shake Daniel trying to wake him up and then she layed his head down and got on her knees preparing to do CPR on her lifeless son when miraculously his heart started beating again on its own! The ambulance arrived shortly after that and loaded him up and began the short ride to the nearest hospital. While en route Daniels heart stopped again for 30seconds. He flatlined and died again in the back of that ambulance, and yet again, his heart started back spontaneously. This time they had it recorded on the heart monitor though which was a huge help in knowing what happened during these episodes. Daniel was flown by helicopter to Egelston Children’s Hospital in Atlanta where he underwent a MRI scan and numerous tests to find out what had happened to our otherwise healthy 17 year old. After what seemed like hundreds of doctors in and out for days they finally determined that Daniels SA Node, which is known as the hearts natural pacemaker, was malfunctioning for some unknown reason and allowing his heart to beat slower and slower until it just eventually stopped. There is no cure for this. Nothing that they can do to fix it. The only thing they can do is insert a pacemaker, which hopefully will detect the heart slowing down and if it dips under 49 beats per minute it will take over and start pumping for him. That is if it works as it should but with any man made mechanical device, it’s not a 100% guarantee.  
                My sister Crystal is devastated as can be expected. She is scared to death, honestly and I can’t blame her. This amazing human being who has the rest of his life ahead of him is seemingly stopped short and it’s heartbreaking. As you would expect, his mom doesn’t want to be to far away from him yet when they brought him home Thursday and she called me that evening, one of the first things she said was that she was going to have to work overtime for years to cover his medical bills. The helicopter ride alone was $50,000. They haven’t yet received the hospital bill but as soon as they I will update with a detailed breakdown of the costs they incurred during his hospital stay. He also has an app that the pacemaker transmits data to on his phone and then the app transmits the data directly to the cardiology department at the children’s hospital. It’s an amazing piece of technology but again, not cheap. 
             Crystal and Jamie are parents to 6 children. They both serve their communities in the medical field. Crystal is an Emergency Room nurse and Jamie is a firefighter. They work hard but when facing medical bills upwards of $100,000 and insurance only covers a small portion, it’s seems almost impossible for humble salaries to be able to tackle that alone. The last thing my sister and Jamie should be worried about is how much overtime they will have to work in order to pay for necessary medical care for Daniel. My hope is to raise enough money for them that they can take a breathe and be in the moment and be there for their son the way they want to be instead of working theirselves in the ground to pay for treatment. I want to give them peace and possibly lift a little bit of the financial burden from their shoulders. 
                  Thank you for taking the time to read Daniels story and if you are unable to donate we ask that you please pray for Daniel and his family. I will continue to update as we receive bills and get updates on Daniels condition. 
   God Bless you all and thank you in advance. -Melissa