Help AJ Puik's Family Through Medical Crisis

My name is Mike Bobish, I started this GoFundMe on behalf of two of my closest friends in the library world, Jereme and Sadé Puik. Jereme and Sadé are the parents of Alexander Jereme (AJ) Puik, an adorable one-year-old who is struggling with some big problems.

AJ was born with Tetralogy of Fallot with Pulmonary Atresia (TOFPA), a rare, severe form of Congenital Heart Disease. In TOFPA, there is no pulmonary valve at all to connect the right ventricle to the lungs, meaning that blood must find its way to the lungs through other, smaller arteries. Because of the rarity of this condition, AJ and his parents needed to travel to a specialized surgeon at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto, California for lifesaving treatments. Before his first surgery in October 2023, AJ went into cardiac arrest, and the surgery was postponed for a week to give his little body a chance to recover. In November 2023, AJ successfully completed open heart surgery, which was a unifocalization procedure to combine the major aortopulmonary collateral arteries into a single functioning pulmonary artery. In August of this year, AJ returned to California for another open heart surgery to close the hole in his heart and finalize any remaining issues. While these surgeries were successful, the nature of AJ’s condition means that he will need to have multiple open heart surgeries throughout the rest of his life.

AJ and his parents responded to these challenges with strength and courage. But they need our help. AJ’s needs meant that both Jereme and Sadé needed to take a large amount of unpaid leave from their jobs in the past year. And while they are doing the best they can under these circumstances, medical, travel, and living expenses continue to add up. The family needs funds to offset the income they lost pursuing AJ’s lifesaving treatments. Any donations raised through this GoFundMe will be used to pay for food, travel, rent, utilities, and medical bills until AJ can return home from California and his parents can get back on their feet again.

No family should ever have to face these challenges. And while Jereme and Sadé didn’t think to ask for financial help, they consented to me creating this GoFundMe on their behalf. I humbly ask you to consider donating whatever you can spare to assist this beautiful family. Our efforts can give Jereme and Sadé some relief and peace of mind as they continue to do what’s necessary to give AJ the wonderful childhood he deserves. Thank you for your consideration!