Help for Hazel Honey

As many of you may know, my niece Hazel is currently in PICU in Fairfax. What should have been just a weeklong sickness has created a tailspin of events that have only just begun.

On February 24th she tested positive for Flu B in the ER and was sent home to rest and recuperate. By February 26th she had gotten worse, back to the ER she went, only this time she was transported to Inova PICU. During the 2 hours commute her 12-year-old body had begun to fail. Her body was in shock from the infection. This beautiful young soul was dying. Her organs were shutting down, at 12 years old. This began a long month of what-ifs and not knowing if she would ever come home.

The PICU team fought hard for her. We then found out she was also positive for STREP A that had gotten into her blood stream. Her body was failing to fight the infection. She was put on ECMO, ventilation, and dialysis. Every day was a battle for her body to fight. After 2 weeks she had to come off the ECMO due to a brain bleed. She had to have emergency brain surgery. She then had to have another one week later. It seemed as if there was always one step forward and 4 steps back.

Today Hazel is off the ventilator. Her heart is strong. The extent of the damage to her brain is unknown until she begins to heal and move. She works with PT and OT. Right now, we know that the left side of her body is weakened. Her kidneys haven’t decided if they want to work. She has a LONG road to recovery and will need extensive rehabilitation after she is medically cleared.

Keturah is an AMAZING mom. She has been through some rough times and somehow has always managed to shield her babies from trauma. This is hard for any momma. Watching your child in pain and knowing there is absolutely nothing you can do, is every parent’s worst-case scenario. Unfortunately, this has become Keturah’s life. One child is 2 hours away while three more children at home need her. After a month she finally agreed to let me make this GoFundMe page for her.

All funds will be to help Keturah catch up, as she has been out of work since this happened, as well as any future expenses. This is going to be a LONG painful road for all, I just want her to have one less hurdle to jump.