Where do we even begin? This fundraiser was originally intended to support Karen’s recovery. But after a brave and turbulent 3-month battle in the hospital, we are heartbroken to share that Karen passed away on the evening of Tuesday, November 26, 2024. It was a rainy night, and she was surrounded by the love of her family.

In the week leading up to her passing, Karen was deeply worried about her finances, particularly how she would manage her extensive hospital bills and mortgage. We talked about starting a GoFundMe, and she wholeheartedly agreed it was the right thing to do.

Karen and Martin shared 11 beautiful years together before becoming newlyweds. Tragically, just four days after their wedding, Karen fell ill. As Martin continues to grieve this profound loss, we are launching this fundraiser to help ensure he and their beloved pups can keep the home he and Karen lovingly built together. Your support will provide much-needed relief and stability during this incredibly difficult time.

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Karen and Martin’s love story spanned 11 beautiful years of working together, living together, and raising their pack of four beloved dogs. On Friday, August 2, 2024, they finally said "I do" and became husband and wife. Their future was filled with dreams of a honeymoon in New York and Japan, but just four days after their wedding, Karen started to get sick.

Karen lived with systemic lupus, an autoimmune condition that left her immune system more vulnerable than most. Though she appeared strong and healthy on the outside, her immune system was fragile. After recently recovering from COVID, she caught the flu — an illness that would be minor for most 37-year-olds but proved catastrophic for Karen. The two back-to-back infections overwhelmed her immune system, leading to an opportunistic fungal infection that spread to her lungs and brain. This type of infection is extremely dangerous for those with weakened immune systems.

Karen's journey was one of incredible strength, love, and resilience. Before her illness took a critical turn, she was caring for her mother, who had been placed on hospice due to stage 4 metastatic bladder cancer. Out of love and caution, Karen avoided visiting her mom for a few days, thinking she had a simple cold and not wanting to risk her mother's health. Prior to this, she would visit daily and they would karaoke together in her hospital bed (pictured below).

But on September 1, 2024, Karen's own health took a sudden and drastic turn. She was rushed to the emergency room in respiratory failure, where she was intubated and placed on life support. Even while fighting for her life, Karen’s thoughts were with her mother. She insisted on checking in on her, determined to be there for her family as she always had been. Her brother, Kenny, went in her place and discovered that their mother had passed away that same night. Given the fragile state of Karen's health and spirit, this heartbreaking news was too much to share with her.

Karen had already endured so much loss, having lost her brother in 2021 and her father in August 2023. Despite these profound hardships, she remained a fighter — a role she knew all too well.

When her condition became critical, Karen was placed on ECMO, a form of life support that acts as an artificial lung to help the body recover. For a week, she was in a coma. But true to her fighting spirit, she defied expectations and woke up. Her recovery was nothing short of remarkable. She began physical therapy, engaged in verticalization exercises, and although she still had a breathing tube, she was alert, aware, and able to interact with loved ones.

During visits, Karen kept up with one of her favorite pastimes — playing Pokémon GO, a game she loved and had played avidly for years. Her medical team was mesmerized by her progress. Despite still being on life support from a ventilator and undergoing dialysis for her kidneys, she was successfully weaned off ECMO. Her strength and determination led to her transfer from the cardiac intensive care unit to the medical intensive care unit, a shift that marked real progress as her organs slowly began to recover.

Every single day, Martin was there. He stayed with her, often overnight, to ensure she felt safe and loved. When she was strong enough to write, they exchanged love notes — her handwriting shaky but filled with unmistakable affection. These scribbled notes were a tender reminder of their bond, a love that thrived even in the most difficult moments.

Despite everything, Karen was still Karen — the funny, sassy, and lovable person everyone knew and cherished. She loved staying in the loop, getting updates on life’s happenings, and hearing all the "tea." Even while lying in a hospital bed, she didn't look like the typical sick patient, which is what makes her passing so devastating.

Karen was dependent on mechanical ventilation (breathing machine) for several months. She was not able to speak or eat for the entire hospitalization so she communicated through gestures, mouthing words, or writing when possible.

She held on long enough to reach her 38th birthday on November 23, 2024 — a bittersweet milestone. The nursing staff came together to sing her a birthday song, and Martin gifted her a Build-A-Bear, filled with hope and excitement to celebrate with her when she got better. But by then, Karen was carrying the weight of too much pain from her damaged lungs. Just three days later, on the rainy evening of November 26, 2024, she passed away.

Martin lost the love of his life. However, heaven regained one of their angels.

“I keep praying I could go back and change things. She deserves to be here. I would be willing to spend every minute with her no matter what, I just want her to be back. This pain is incredible, I'd give my life in a second if it meant she could be back. Even if it meant me going without seeing her, as long as she was back bringing her joy to this world. This just isn't fair, it's just impossible. I keep thinking of her bright brown eyes, and she had this glimmer to her, this aura, it is angelic.

I miss her so much, she made me love life. Everything I am and want to be, it was all Karen. I don't understand how this could happen. Its impossible. I just want to wake up from this horrible nightmare. I hate it. I hate it so much, I want to burst out of my own skin and run. Just run until l can't anymore and wake up next to her. This hurts so much. My baby girl.

I just want to hold her again. I want this world to make sense the way she made it make sense.

I miss her voice so much. I miss her little outbursts when she'd get "upset" at random things. I hope we did make an impact on her as big as an impact she made on us. She really did make me a better person. She made me care, love, and have compassion for others. All I wanted was for her to come home. To see her babies, I know they miss her.

I miss her. I miss her so much. I can't stop thinking about her. I keep trying to do things so be normal, but it's just not true. This world fucking sucks without her.

I will live my life for her, but honestly I just want to be with her. This pain is unbelievable. There is no normalcy, there is no everything is going to be okay, because it's not. God I love her, unrepentantly and unrelentingly . I'd give my life for her when she was here and I'd give my life for her now. I miss her, even when she was sick there was that hope and I looked forward to seeing her everyday despite what was happening.”

Who is Karen?

Karen was an outstanding daughter, wife, sister, best friend, mentor, teacher, pokemon go trainer and the most amazing dog mom and animal lover. She was simply the best person ever-- an actual saint.

She was the best friend we would want to see whenever we had a day off. She was such a foodie. We always looked forward to food dates with boba for dessert. She was there in our corner when we were going through a tough time. Her laugh and smile was infectious; her energy radiated and filled every room she was in; she had a way of making us all feel at ease.

She was hilarious, sweet, and caring person. Karen was a special education teacher and was notorious for taming rowdy kids. Her kids would always ask for her in their other classes. Sometimes they would run away from their other teachers and show up in Karen's class for comfort.

Karen taught us what healthy love and communication looks like. She had patience like no other-- we rarely saw her get her feathers ruffled. She was the older sister I always wished for. The kind that would listen to us vent, give us a big hug, then take us out for yummy food. Once she loves someone, she would bring you into her family as if you were meant to be there too. She helped others because it made her happy and she was a natural at it.

Karen is survived by her husband, Martin, four dogs ( Pantera, Dio, Cliff, and Lemmy), and two older brothers, Ti and Kenny.

We are fundraising to cover both the medical and funeral expenses, and to support her husband, Martin, during this devastating time.

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Karen's Vietnamese name was "Quynh." She was named after the quỳnh flower or 'Queen of the Night' (in English). It is renowned in literature and arts as a noble kind of flower, which blooms only at night and offers glorious beauty and a gentle scent.

Vietnamese folklore of "DA QUYNH" : Queen of Night

Once upon a time in Vietnam, there was a very beautiful princess who fell in love with a young man who, alas, was a commoner.

As a punishment, her father, the king, sent her into exile on an island.

 

The princess, isolated and far from her love, fell in decline and died of grief.

But one day she was reincarnated into a splendid flower: “Da Quynh” or the Queen of Night.

Since then, in their home, in a room of their house or in their adjoining garden many vietnamese families have had a pot where the plant (Epiphyllum oxypetalum) grows, and produces the splendid flower.

The flower opens out towards the end of the day and lasts only one night.... It has a particular liking for the moonlight nights.

As soon as the heralding signs of the imminent blossoming are visible, the owner of the plant quickly lets it known to all his close relations and friends.

The latter rush and the night of full bloom is a night of great festivities where everybody drinks strong tea or rice alcohol.

All the guests surround the plant and attentively follow the petals which open little by little in a few hours, until the complete blooming of the flower which also gives off a powerful and delicious perfume.

This practice observance is supposed to be an omen of happiness.

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3 different religions, 3 different ways to pray, and countless groups of different people wished for Karen to be here today. With us, with us laughing, smiling, eating, pigging out like the little piggy she was. Now 3 different religions, buddhist, christianity, and islam are left with prayers of passing. A peaceful passing, back home, back to her mother, father, and brother. Rest in peace to the beautiful soul who united all kinds of people together. Rest in peace to the angel, the supernova shining bright in the night sky, rest in peace sweet Karen.