Amanda, just 33 years old, a healthy, selfless, and fierce young lady, has experienced an unexpected, life threatening situation that has left her and her family with an unfortunate and devastating prognosis. We are sharing Amanda's situation in hopes that it reaches the people she loves, the people that love her, and have experienced how special she is.

This fundraiser is being shared by a close friend on behalf of Amanda, her husband Ian, and their family, with all funds going directly to their care and support.

Please continue reading for a more comprehensive description of what happened to Amanda, her care, and her prognosis. Thank you.

On Friday, December 19th, Amanda, her mom Stephanie, and husband Ian enjoyed a Christmas themed dinner at a restaurant in Minneapolis. Amanda had prime rib and ice cream, an ideal meal for her. Afterward, we all walked around the mall for an hour, and later returned home.

While Amanda and Ian were lying in bed, winding down the day with a bit of TV, reading, and conversation, Amanda had an episode out of nowhere that physically presented as a seizure and quickly left her unresponsive, and unable to breathe.

Ian responded by calling 911, following instructions over the phone to clear her airway, move her onto the floor, and initiate CPR. Ian was unsuccessful in reviving Amanda or getting a response. Paramedics arrived within 15 minutes of the episode. They shocked her with an AED once, then utilized a LUCAS CPR device. She was brought to the ER, where they were able to revive her.

Amanda was clinically dead for 39 minutes.

Amanda was revived and supported using a machine called ECMO, a life-saving treatment that provides temporary support for failing hearts and lungs by pumping and oxygenating blood through her body. Amanda was also intubated, and given support with a ventilator. She was quickly transported from the ER to another hospital where a cardiology ICU team specializes in this specific critical care and support.

Taking a closer look at her heart, the team was able to find some small dissection in a coronary artery (SCAD) Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection. This dissection disrupted blood flow, electrically destabilizing the heart muscle, causing her to go into VFib, leading to sudden cardiac arrest.

During Amanda’s first week in the ICU, she remained on ECMO and the team worked on stabilizing her overall health, as well as assessing the damage to the heart, kidneys, and liver. She has had several small hiccups since being here, including a hematoma in her left femoral artery where they removed an excess auxiliary line, causing her to need a blood transfusion. She has dealt with a bacterial infection in her airway and lungs (common from intubation).

It took 2 trials to get Amanda off ECMO, ensuring that her body and heart function could compensate. She was on ECMO for a total of 7 days.

While Amanda's overall health is improving, the hardest news to share is the damage her brain sustained from being without oxygen for a prolonged period of time.

Amanda's brain was without any or very little oxygen for the 39 minutes she was dead. Since the incident, there have been 3 CT scans, a common protocol to get an early general idea of the overall damage to her brain. She has also been on and off EEG which records brain electrical activity. The CT results showed us that there is global damage to her brain from anoxia. The EEG shows us she is not having any seizures, and it also shows us minimal brain activity, even when she is stimulated.

She received an MRI 8 days after her initial incident, which supported the general findings from CT and offered a more detailed look of her entire brain.

The results tell us Amanda has suffered a catastrophic global anoxic brain injury affecting her entire (both hemispheres) cerebral cortex and cerebrum. The damage to the infrastructure of what makes up her brain has insurmountable and irreversible damage.

Amanda has had no major existing physical health issues. This event came with no warnings prior. In other words, there were no signs that this could have potentially happened to her.

Since arriving at the hospital, Amanda can open and close her eyes, but doesn't appear to have control over them. She can move her arms, fingers, and legs a little, but not on command or with clear self-awareness. However, this doesn’t stop any of us from talking to her, staring into her eyes, assisting her with stretching and repositioning her arms, legs or body.

In speaking with Amanda's ICU teams, 2 NeuroCritical specialists, her personal primary care provider, nurses, and some of you medically trained friends and family, Amanda's prognosis is poor and hard to accept. The parts of her brain that give her the ability to communicate for herself in all ways, and receive communication in all ways, have been mostly destroyed. Her ability to interact with the world, and with us, has been diminished.

The consensus amongst the team is that even with time, Amanda would not exceed a minimally conscious state, and would require 24 hour nursing and support in bed the rest of her life.

Amanda's mom, her husband, and 2 aunts are in the midst of determining what is best for Amanda moving forward, doing our best to tap into who she is and what she would want for herself given the circumstances of what she is facing.

As loved ones we have decided Amanda will most likely be extubated and given comfort care, without any further major medical intervention. Our primary goal now is to preserve who she was before this incident and no longer support prolonging the state her body and mind are currently in.

This experience has been and will continue to be a critical blow to Amanda and her loved ones. And while we have some financial means in place amongst us to manage some of what is needed, this unexpected event will dramatically change the course of her lives and our own.

While it is difficult to ask for and accept help, it's true that many hands make for a lighter load.

Your financial support will help us manage and offset Amanda's current out of pocket medical expenses for the 3 weeks (ongoing) she has been in the ICU where she has undergone some extreme life saving interventions and treatments, potentially end of life palliative & hospice care, and when appropriate, funeral services. In addition to supporting foreseeable income loss for Amanda and her husband, management of ongoing home bills and expenses, and grief support for her closest loved ones.

Any excess funds raised will be donated to organizations, providers, and/or patients who contribute to the awareness or are seeking therapeutic care for OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) a mental health condition Amanda managed with personally most of her life. Beyond that, we would love to make a charitable donation to a local dog rescue organization. While Amanda was not currently a dog owner, she daily expressed care, love and a desire to help dogs.

Throughout this entire event, Amanda has been with her mother and aunts, who have raised her and maintained positive love, memories, and support for her and who she is for her entire life. Family is an integral part of who Amanda is, and the life she lives. Her family has filled her with faith, spoiled her without hesitation, and they continue to love her beyond belief.

Amanda and her husband started dating when they were 14 years old and never stopped. By choice, challenge, undying acceptance, love, and patience they continue to embed themselves completely into each other's lives. They were finally married in 2024 amongst friends and family and have been fortunate to care for each other most of their lives.

Amanda's husband, family, and friends cannot express how much they value and feel your support and love for Amanda. We know she feels it, and needs it more than ever. We greatly appreciate your concerns, time, love and messages, positive energy, and prayers.

We are immensely grateful for her medical team, their efforts and intervention, and all who read and share this story. We hope we can return the love and generosity to you and yours in the future ideally under better circumstances.