On January 14th, 2021 our beloved wife, mother, and grandmother, Marina Shindy was admitted to the ER for onset pneumonia due to a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. At that time, she was given a CT scan where doctors discovered her aorta (the largest artery in our body) was enlarged. 

A little over a week later, Marina began to feel very sick in the middle of the night and was taken by ambulance to Mt. Nittany Medical Center where they found an aortic aneurysm that had ruptured. While doctors were able to stabilize her, she was still in very critical condition and needed to be airlifted to Danville Hospital for emergency open heart surgery. 

The surgery went well and as of January 26th, doctors were finally able to remove her breathing tube. The next steps in the process are stabilization and discharge, which we expect will happen in the next 7-10 days. The cause of the rupture is still unknown but we hope to follow up with her surgeon soon. 

Currently Marina is uninsured and the medical bills are piling up fast. Just the cost of being airlifted alone can range anywhere between $10-40K. Of course, there will also be many other costs associated with the surgery, her medications, follow-up visits with the cardiologist, etc. All in all we except her bills to be somewhere in the $200K range. Her husband, Ben, is the main source of income for the family but unfortunately his business has been greatly impacted by the current pandemic. 

In addition to any funds donated, please keep Marina and her family in your prayers. So that she will recover smoothly and stay strong emotionally. She was allowed only 1 hour of visitation following the procedure but cannot have any visitors for the remainder of her stay. Any and all help will be tremendously appreciated by her family and will be used towards her medical expenses as they navigate through this difficult time. 

If you would prefer to donate via another platform (Venmo, PayPal, CashApp, or Apple Pay), please contact Marina's daughter, Carolina for more information.