Lung Transplant Family Support

My name is Richard Clayton. My wife Teris and I have been watching our 32 year old son Brian suffer to take each and every breath for the last year and a half. Brian was a victim of a rare,  devastating fungal pneumonia that almost killed him in the late summer of 2015. Brian was given a 10% chance to survive, and our son did. Brian was placed in a medically induced coma for almost 2 months for treatment. When they brought him out of the coma, he had approximately 17% functioning lung tissue, the rest of the tissue was permanently destroyed.

There is good news. Brian has been accepted into the Phoenix Norton Thoracic Institute lung transplant program, 400 miles from our home in Las Cruces, NM. In order to be accepted into the program, one immediate family member has to commit to living with Brian in Phoenix. My wife Teris has made that commitment. This is why we need to raise funds. Most of Brian’s costs are covered by insurance. None of Teri’s costs are covered and the cost of supporting two households is wiping us out financially. I am employed full time flying a small general aviation aircraft for the State of New Mexico. It’s a good job, a decent paying job, but not enough to support two households. The general consensus is that Brian and Teri will be able to come home in approximately 6 months, assuming he gets a set of lungs soon.

We have never asked for financial help from anyone, ever. We have depleted all reserve funds. We do know that, no matter what, we WILL see this through one way or another. We have no choice. Brian’s long term survival prospects in his current condition are grim.

We are just trying to save our beautiful son’s life. Brian was a strong, 30 year old man with a bright future when he was struck down with this horrible disease. He has a degree in civil engineering with a minor in applied mathematics, and has big plans if he can just get past this hurdle. We need funds to help us, help him.

Thank you in advance.