Help John French prepare for a HEART TRANSPLANT

I’m Melanie Brown, and I’ve initiated this Go Fund Me effort on behalf of my childhood friend, John French.

To know John is to love him. What a wonderful husband, father, brother, uncle, friend, classmate, Navy buddy, coworker, neighbor, and all the other hats he wears. This fundraiser benefits John and his family as we navigate the unfamiliar territory of heart failure. How can it be his heart? John’s heart is as big as the sky.

John's life recently and suddenly changed when he was diagnosed with a nonviable form of heart disease after having a massive heart attack in Buffalo, New York. He was on a ventilator, was in the ICU for 8 weeks, and had cardiac tests that revealed that his heart could only pump 20 percent. He has little to no blood flow to the left ventricle, the heart’s pump, due to 90% blockages in 2 main arteries, including the LAD or the “Widow Maker.” These test results revealed John's heart muscle has died, and he cannot have a stent placed to open the blockage or have bypass surgery. There is nothing they can do to repair the damage to his heart. John’s only hope is to try and strengthen what little heart function he has left with the use of medications, placement of pacemaker/internal defibrillator (AICD) and eventually have a heart transplant. John is again currently in the ICU at the Hershey Medical center after collapsing at home, where he was found unresponsive by his wife and required more medical intervention. He will have a pacemaker/defibrillator placed On March 23, 2022.

John needs financial help to address the un-planned, ongoing medical expenses and care. John requires continuous care and assistance at home. He will need nursing care at home when his wife, Anne, also an RN, returns to work. As you can imagine, sorting through all this is enormously challenging and extremely overwhelming. New and ongoing expenses for these new medical needs at home are why we ask for your help.

The need is urgent as we are once again making a discharge plan so John can safely return home, which is slated to happen on Thursday, March 24th. Your gift is meaningful because in the future, John’s hopes for a return to health will be limited to a heart transplant. In the meantime, our work will focus on keeping him here and restoring his strength for the fight ahead.

Thank you for helping John and his family.