Tribute to Mike Wootton

Dear Friends,

 

We are heartbroken to share this news with you: For the last several months, Mike had been experiencing some health issues. However, it wasn’t clear how significant they were until he went to the ER on December 14, at which time they found him to be in liver failure. Mike was quickly transported to Swedish Hospital in Seattle where he was approved for a liver transplant. The team of people caring for him throughout his stay was phenomenal and provided exceptional care. Tragically, while waiting for a transplant, Mike experienced complications from which he was unable to recover, and he passed way on December 29th . It looks as though an undiagnosed, underlying genetic disease led to acute liver failure. Even in the midst of his health struggles, Mike’s genuine, caring heart was present and the entire medical team desperately hoped he could be, in their words, “our Christmas miracle.”

 

The days leading up to and following Mike’s death were filled with deep sadness and many tears. There were also moments of joy and laughter, as friends and family remembered Mike’s unparalleled and contagious laugh (giggle), his playfulness, his genuine care and concern for others, and ultimately the gift that it was to know him as family or friend.

 

We’ve had a lot of questions about how best to support Bailley and the girls, and we so appreciate all of you who have reached out to inquire, check in, and offer aid. Although it’s hard to anticipate all that they will need in the months and years to come, here are three meaningful ways to care for them in this moment:

 

First, we are making a book of photos, memories, and stories about Mike for Bailley, Afton, and Hayden. If you’d like to participate, please send a photo with a short caption, a story, and/or memory (along with your name and relationship to Mike) to mikewoottonmemories @gmail.com. We’ll be collecting emails through the month of January, and then we’ll compile them into a photo storybook. We hope this will be a way for them to remember things they may have forgotten, discover new stories they haven’t yet heard, laugh at his many antics, and see photos of Mike at all ages.

 

Second, we have set up this benevolence fund. Funds will be used to cover medical and memorial expenses, help with after school and summer care for the girls, and potentially provide experiences that Mike and the girls had been planning together. 

Third, we are still figuring out when and how a meal train would be most helpful, but we will update this page as soon as we have the details figured out. 

 

A memorial service will be held when the community spread of Covid lessens and it is safer to travel, likely late spring or early summer. Once we have a date, we will update this page.

 

Thank you for all the ways you have loved and cared for the Wootton family in years past, all ways you hold them in this moment, and all the ways we know you will continue to come alongside them in the future. In the midst of this profound tragedy, you all are providing love, light and hope.

 

Much love, Brenna Stanfield & Emily Robinson