My name is Des Harris. I’m the oldest child, 23, of Doreen and Demetrious Harris. I have 2 younger siblings - DJ and Dalilia Harris, who are 22 and 19.
On January 20th, 2026, my mom sadly passed after going in for heart surgery on January 6th, 2026. My mom went to UPMC Harrisburg to undergo her second triple valve replacement and 2 bypasses. During her surgery, she had major complications and was placed on ECMO and another ALS device called an Impella. While on these machines, my mom entered kidney failure and was placed on continuous dialysis to help try to filter her blood. She was on a ventilator the entire time because her oxygen levels were too low, and she could not breathe on her own.
My mom soon graduated from ECMO and ALS and was solely on dialysis until an infection was found in her blood. She became sicker and sicker as the days went on. My mom’s blood started to clot, and blood flow was not reaching a lot of the parts of her body. She became very cold and had to have a hypothermia blanket to help raise her body temperature, but it wasn’t working. She formed a clot in her hepatic artery, which led to her entering liver failure on January 19th, 2026.
Because of her liver not being able to function, my mother’s blood became toxic, and my mom entered SEPSIS and eventually passed from all of these complications combined, leading to multiple organ failure. She passed on January 20th, 2026, at 12:27 am with DJ, Dalilia, and I right by her side.
On January 17th, 2024, my father had tragically passed from a heart attack. My mom found him. My dad was diagnosed with dementia, and his body had rapidly deteriorated. My mom was his caretaker. This event took a major toll on my family, and with this happening now, I’m not sure what to do anymore.
With only being 23 and being the oldest, I don’t know how I can live without my parents here. My siblings and I are not prepared to take on this world without either one to help guide and coach us through the hardest times of our lives. We will never have the opportunity to introduce grandchildren or invite them to our weddings. We will never be able to talk to them again nor feel their presence physically, and it’s already taking a toll on us because we are so weak. We watched our parents change so young and sadly watched them leave us way too soon.
I created this GoFundMe to help my siblings and I pay for the cremation service for my mother and to also help with other funds needed for basic living. I don’t live without my siblings. My siblings did live with my mom, and my mom was the provider of the household. I am doing my very best to help guide my siblings through this when I’m still learning myself. Anything helps. I’m not the type to reach out very much, especially right now. It’s very hard to even talk to another person because of all the sadness I have within me. Thank you for listening to our story. I hope we can get through this.