Help Dawn Doberstyn Sotera Care Fund

Hi All!

If you haven't heard about what has happened to Dawn please keep reading. Any and all hands on deck are needed!!!!!!!!! Due to the loss of her short-term memory from the event Dawn is still in need of 24/7 care and her husband, Craig an independent contractor has been unable to work much due to staying home to be with her. She has been unable to file for FMLA due to not being at her job for a year and any type of disability will be long in coming. Please consider helping this lady we all know and love and supporting her family. Dawn has given so much to so many please consider a donation!

This is the account of the event from her sister, Darlene below:

I know it’s not usually a big deal for someone’s sister to visit, but let me tell you this was a BIG DEAL visit. Just six weeks ago tonight, I got a call that no one ever wants to get about their loved one: Your sister collapsed, her heart stopped, and she is in an ambulance on her way to the emergency room.

The. World. Stopped.

My brother in law just happened to be at home early... He decided not to check out that other job. He didn’t stop somewhere after work. He didn’t get stuck at just one more red light on the way home. He wasn’t even in the garage, or just simply in the basement... He was only a few feet away when Dawn went to start a bath and he heard her say “Oh shit, I think I’m going to pass out”. And then there came a crash into the tub.

He started compressions immediately, and he worked her over. Hard. In the tub! The paramedics came, they did compressions, they shocked her, and then they took her away by ambulance.

Shortly after Dawn arrived at the hospital, she was put into a medically induced coma, intubated, and they started chilling her body to a hypothermic state in hopes of preserving brain function. Her heart hadn’t beat on it’s own for 25 minutes.

Hours felt like days. Days felt like weeks. Then ever so slowly, they stopped the sedatives and started to warm her back up. And we waited. She passed every milestone we needed her to: She breathed over the ventilator. She moved a little. All organs and mechanicals functioning. No heart damage. No brain damage found on the EEG.

At first she would open her eyes, but she didn’t focus on anything. When the doc asked her to squeeze his hand, she couldn’t. Then her amazing ICU nurse said “Dawn, I need to know if you’re in there, if you can hear me raise your eyebrows”. And my sister, she raised those blonde eyebrows higher than I’ve ever seen anyone raise their eyebrows in their life!

***Exhale***

And then we cried and we didn’t stop.

Dawn spent 3 weeks in the hospital where she worked on her motor skills, walking, and cognitive function. She’s back at home now - with an ICD (implanted defibrillator) - and someone is with her 24/7 as her short term memory is still not completely recovered. She doesn’t have any recollection of her sudden cardiac arrest (the kids were not home at the time, thank goodness!) and her memories of her hospital stay are not clear.

It seems like short term memory is the most affected at this point, and it will be a long process of rehabilitation (physical/occupational/cognitive therapy), but she keeps surprising us at every turn! She’s said she’s looking forward to driving again and returning to work. (I know my sister has a ton of friends - so please know that she’s not ignoring you. She isn’t using her phone for the time being so she isn’t receiving texts or messages. If you DM me, I will give you her mailing address. I know she’d appreciate a good old-fashioned letter or card delivered by USPS).

First and foremost, thank you, thank you, thank you to Craig, my brother-in-law, for cracking my sister’s ribs and doing it so thoroughly. Thank you for not hesitating. YOU are the single, number one reason my sister is still with us today. Everybody else got to do their part, only because of you. I will always and forever be eternally grateful to you.

Thank you Mya and Rhea for helping out around the house and stepping up to help your mom. It means more to her than you could ever know.

Thank you to the West Farmington (all volunteer) paramedics that rescued her and to each person at UH Geauga that helped in Dawn’s recovery - from the staff to the nurses to the doctors - many of whom are Dawn’s friends and former co-workers (I know some of you are friends on FB). It’s hard to treat someone you know - and many of them cried right along with us - but they did anything and everything to help Dawn recover. I can’t name you all, but I thank you!

And finally, thank you to all of Dawn’s friends (she has many!) and relatives (Craig has many!) that are helping out as well. Everything you’ve done is so greatly appreciated.

Everyone always wants to know the reason why something happened, especially when it’s of a catastrophic nature. Was it stress? Her long covid? Some combination thereof? We just don’t know why - and likely we never will. Her cardiologist said that she is an “absolute miracle”. Less than 3% of people survive v-fib outside of a hospital setting, and a large number of those that do survive end up with debilitating anoxic brain injury.

Six weeks ago was the single worst day I have ever experienced. The ensuing weeks were grueling.

But today, this is an amazing story of courage and hope.