Fund Hilary's New Heart and Kidney

Darcy Fleming is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Hilary Raye.

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At 42 years old, no one expects to need a double heart and kidney transplant. With a full life ahead of her and an upcoming wedding to a wonderful partner, this rare, medically complex, and financially crippling scenario is what my heroic cousin Hilary is currently navigating. My hope is that as a community of friends and family, we can support Hilary as she continues to heal and get stronger over the next two years.

She’s already done the hard part herself. Faced with over 7 weeks of hospitalization and two massive surgeries in two days, she’s begun the long road to healing and recovery. The path will be painful, exhausting, and draining over the next 1.5-2 years with initial follow up appointments of 15-20 per week including WEEKLY heart biopsies to look for rejection. Her days are filled with learning to sit/stand/walk again, managing countless medications, pain and expectations, and putting a hold on life and work. The billed surgery costs ALONE will be over $2 MILLION, not including hospital stays, follow up appointments for years to come, lost wages, medication costs, and healthcare worker costs.

And it all started with just being…unlucky. Hilary was born with polycystic kidneys and developed a heart arrhythmia which became worse as she got older. Until three years ago, she managed without complaint, working full time as a dental assistant, riding bikes and hiking, met the loves of her life (person and dog!), and smiled and laughed 24 hours a day. Then, three cardiac arrests in three years combined with deteriorating kidneys, the unfathomable generosity of an organ donor, and the medical brilliance of her healthcare team brought her to where she is now. Now WE must keep her going!

Please consider a donation, no matter how small, as these costs will be ongoing. Her fiancé, Art, saved her life the first time when he watched her spontaneously fall to the ground from a heart that stopped beating and gave her life saving CPR. I am hoping we can save her a second time with financial support. Thank you!