Erica Roper: Suffer No More

Britney Ward is organizing this fundraiser.

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My name is Britney Ward. My cousin Erica has recently been hospitalized due to severe pancreatitis. Our family has been on this very emotional rollercoaster for almost 4 weeks now. Erica has been put through several extraordinary measures to try and save her beautiful soul. When brought to the hospital, she was in such critical condition that she had to be placed on a ventilator. From there she underwent 5 treatments of dialysis to help her kidneys regain their function. After several failed attempts of taking her off of the ventilator, doctors felt that she needed a tracheostomy-a surgically created hole in your windpipe to help you breathe. A few days after this, Erica began to wake up when she was talked to. She would open her beautiful eyes and follow you around the room. She would answer questions by shaking her head. She would even try to verbally talk to you at times. There were moments when we could make out her saying "I love you" or blowing kisses. This gave my family hope that she was finally getting better and coming out of the woods. Then on September 7th, Erica "coded” in the hospital not once but twice. This meant Erica’s heart stopped beating and the medical team performed CPR on her two different times in order to save her life. Doctors explained that it may take a few days until we knew if Erica's brain had either recovered or suffered too much damage from being oxygen deprived. Today, Erica suffered a grand mal seizure. Doctors and nurses explained that Erica has severe brain damage now. The very tough decision has been made to take Erica off the ventilator in a day or so and to let nature take its course. Family and friends from all over have been coming to say their goodbyes and pay their respects.

After all is said and done. This earth is going to have lost a beautiful, caring, funny soul. We will all miss her terribly. Her three amazing children Ronica, Dylon, and Caylah as well as her two younger siblings Eric and Crystal will need all the love and support to get through this unbearable time.

Keith and Connie Roper, Erica’s parents are also taking this very hard. No parent is ever prepared to bury their child. To top it all off, no one is ever really financially prepared to bury a loved one. Keith and Connie don’t want to burden anyone by asking for help with funeral costs so I am going to do it for them. Family, friends and community I am reaching out to you and asking for help. Any donation will help ease some of the financial worry and will allow more time for grieving.

We love you Erica.