Financial help for Owen Wichenbach and His Family

For those who don't know Owen, he was born with kidney disease. He has been fighting the disease his whole life. His first surgery was at four days old. His first transplant was at age 19, with his father as the donor. Five years after the transplant, his body started to reject the donated kidney. He has been in and out of the hospital since then, with a lot of time spent in the ICU. Owen has never complained or had a bad attitude about his health. He was a hard worker up until a year ago when he had to leave work early for not feeling well and drove himself to the ER. He was immediately admitted to the ICU, and an emergency port was put in the upper part of his chest to start dialysis right away. Since then, Owen has not been able to work outside the home. He has been staying home with his three 3 year old daughter while his fiance, Delia Nichols, works full time to support them. Owen started getting disability checks six months ago, but as most people know, disability is not very much.. just a tiny portion of what he made when he could work. This little family is always financially strapped, and now, even more so. On Wednesday the 17th of August, Owen called me saying he had nausea, a bad headache and needed me to pick up his daughter so he could rest. My husband and I both went over. When we arrived he asked us to stay with him. We stayed, and about 2 hours later, I convinced him to go to the ER with me. His blood pressure upon arrival was 258/159 and his heart rate was 134. They quickly to CT imaging. When he returned, I noticed him staring off into the corner and was unresponsive. To make a long, terrifying story short, I watched him have his first recorded seizure (they believe he had more the night before). Delia arrived and we both stood helplessly as he had another seizure, a grand mall, this time. We were there when his heart stopped, they began CPR, and a few minutes later, when his heart started beating again, he was put into an induced coma. Owen was sent by Lifeflight ground to Eastern Maine Medical Center's Cardiac ICU. Delia, Gene and I have been with since. He is home right now but is still in critical need of a kidney. The high blood pressure, the seizures, and the bruising on his brain are all due to kidney disease. Delia is taking time off from work to be with Owen, as we are all terrified to leave him by himself. This is causing a huge strain on them financially. My husband and I are doing all we can to help, but they need more. If you can, please donate to them. All the money will go to paying their bills and buying groceries. Owen, Delia and their daughter need to be as stress-free as possible right now. If you are unable to help, please share this with your friends.

P.S. Please consider becoming a donor for Owen. There is screening information provided below. Or you can contact the Maine Transplant Clinic in Portland, ME at [phone redacted]. You can also contact me directly at [phone redacted]

Donor Screening website: mmc.donorscreen.org

Thank you,

Leila Winchenbach