Hannah's Medical Fund
Donation protected
My best friend, Hannah Susman, had a heart transplant last week. Heart transplants happen everyday right? Maybe for the elderly or even middle-aged adults, but my best friend, is only nineteen years old.
It was our freshman year in high school, Wednesday, October 5, 2011, and I remember it vividly. Unfortunately, Hannah doesn't because that day, during third period gym class, her heart stopped beating. As scary as that was, everything that could have gone right, did. The school nurse, who never wears sneakers, wore them that day and ran to her side. She fell in the gym; one of the few locations on campus with a conveniently located AED, where one of the only gym coaches trained to use the device was on duty. With a 2 percent chance of survival, Hannah not only survived, she thrived. With only two weeks of school missed, and the support of Memorial High school faculty, Hannah was quickly back on her feet, in more ways than one. Despite all the physical struggles she had to overcome, she completed her high school diploma a valedictorian and was a member of the Texas Allstate choir our senior year.
This fall, Hannah attended Trinity University and made the deans list her first semester. Everything was going amazing for her until, just two days into the spring semester, she came down with a nasty fever, and was hospitalized for three weeks. At the end of January, she was released, fever free, and all was well - or so we thought. Just one short week later, she experienced excruciating chest pain that put her back in the hospital. It was at that time her doctors decided: she needed a new heart.
Last week I went to see her in the hospital, where she had been for about three weeks. Her room was decorated, and more plans were being made to make the space even more like home because no one knew how long she would be waiting; weeks or even months. Then, the night before I left Houston to head back to school, I got a phone call from Hannah, and I just knew. The hospital had found the perfect heart for her, and I couldn’t have been more elated. This heart was a long time coming, and a path to a better life for Hannah.
I spent a few hours with her late that night just before the surgery, and as I left, I just wanted to cry out of fear for the life of my best friend, but I didn’t. I didn’t weep because I kept thinking, Hannah is the strongest and bravest person I have every meet in my short time on this planet, and she is going to be okay. She is going to be better than fine because she is stronger than any super hero, Hannah is my hero. Running a close second behind her, is her mother. I have watched Lisa selflessly take care of Hannah day-in and day-out since the day she collapsed on that gymnasium floor, and even before that. She is a compassionate woman who doesn’t ask for much. My family offered to bring her anything she needed for her many nights spent by Hannah’s side at the hospital, and all she ever asked for was a bottle of water.
With that, I would like to raise money for this incredible family to help offset the cost of countless medical bills, surgeries, and hospital stays. Their family has already suffered so much emotional strain, that economic strain is the last thing that should be on their minds, and it would mean the world to me to see those stresses lifted. Even as much as one dollar in this fund would give me peace of mind to know that there are other people out there that care about Hannah and her family as much as I do. With that, I ask you all to look deep into your hearts, and your wallets (haha), to help out this wonderful family in her already amazing road to recovery.
It was our freshman year in high school, Wednesday, October 5, 2011, and I remember it vividly. Unfortunately, Hannah doesn't because that day, during third period gym class, her heart stopped beating. As scary as that was, everything that could have gone right, did. The school nurse, who never wears sneakers, wore them that day and ran to her side. She fell in the gym; one of the few locations on campus with a conveniently located AED, where one of the only gym coaches trained to use the device was on duty. With a 2 percent chance of survival, Hannah not only survived, she thrived. With only two weeks of school missed, and the support of Memorial High school faculty, Hannah was quickly back on her feet, in more ways than one. Despite all the physical struggles she had to overcome, she completed her high school diploma a valedictorian and was a member of the Texas Allstate choir our senior year.
This fall, Hannah attended Trinity University and made the deans list her first semester. Everything was going amazing for her until, just two days into the spring semester, she came down with a nasty fever, and was hospitalized for three weeks. At the end of January, she was released, fever free, and all was well - or so we thought. Just one short week later, she experienced excruciating chest pain that put her back in the hospital. It was at that time her doctors decided: she needed a new heart.
Last week I went to see her in the hospital, where she had been for about three weeks. Her room was decorated, and more plans were being made to make the space even more like home because no one knew how long she would be waiting; weeks or even months. Then, the night before I left Houston to head back to school, I got a phone call from Hannah, and I just knew. The hospital had found the perfect heart for her, and I couldn’t have been more elated. This heart was a long time coming, and a path to a better life for Hannah.
I spent a few hours with her late that night just before the surgery, and as I left, I just wanted to cry out of fear for the life of my best friend, but I didn’t. I didn’t weep because I kept thinking, Hannah is the strongest and bravest person I have every meet in my short time on this planet, and she is going to be okay. She is going to be better than fine because she is stronger than any super hero, Hannah is my hero. Running a close second behind her, is her mother. I have watched Lisa selflessly take care of Hannah day-in and day-out since the day she collapsed on that gymnasium floor, and even before that. She is a compassionate woman who doesn’t ask for much. My family offered to bring her anything she needed for her many nights spent by Hannah’s side at the hospital, and all she ever asked for was a bottle of water.
With that, I would like to raise money for this incredible family to help offset the cost of countless medical bills, surgeries, and hospital stays. Their family has already suffered so much emotional strain, that economic strain is the last thing that should be on their minds, and it would mean the world to me to see those stresses lifted. Even as much as one dollar in this fund would give me peace of mind to know that there are other people out there that care about Hannah and her family as much as I do. With that, I ask you all to look deep into your hearts, and your wallets (haha), to help out this wonderful family in her already amazing road to recovery.
Organizer and beneficiary
Mackenzie Finklea
Organizer
Houston, TX
Lisa Susman
Beneficiary