Crystal's Medical Care Fund
Donation protected
AN UNFORESEEABLE EVENT
On January 2, 2016, Crystal Marrs started her Saturday just like she normally would when she had to work her produce job at Kroger. She got out of bed without waking me, did her regular morning routine, and went to work for her eight hour shift. When she had finished work at 3:00 pm, she got in her car and began to drive home. Little did she know that, through no fault of her own, her life was about to be changed forever.
On Crystal’s way home, at approximately 3:22 pm, she suffered a cardiac arrest that caused her to lose consciousness while she was driving. Fortunately, it was a single car accident and nobody else was involved when her 2002 Honda Accord went off South Atlanta Road, through some bushes, and hit a utility pole going 30 mph. At 3:29 pm, Cobb County Fire and Police arrived on the scene to find Crystal unresponsive and began CPR as soon as they could get her out of the car. On her way to Kennestone Hospital, she suffered a second “ventricular fibrillation” and was “shocked” back to a normal heart rhythm by EMS.
A MIRACLE OCCURS
Doctors at the Kennestone emergency room were able to stabilize Crystal, but fearful that her brain tissue may have been damaged due to lack of oxygen, they put her into a medically induced hypothermic coma for 48 hrs. Basically, her body temperature was lowered to 92 degrees in order to slow the body from metabolizing cells, with the goal being to halt any tissue damage that may have occurred to her brain. While she was still unresponsive, I asked the doctors “On a scale of one to ten, what are her chances of waking up and coming out of this?” I was told a “three.”
On January 5, 2016, at 10:30 am, Crystal beat all the odds: she opened her eyes, looked at me, and understood what I said to her. The doctors in the CCU were amazed and said that it was nothing short of a miracle that she woke up. She would spend the next four days in the CCU, where she would be known as the “miracle girl,” and was told to other patient’s families in the unit as a story of hope. She would have to spend another six days in the hospital recovering from her injuries, as well as a surgery to resolve a hematoma that developed in her pelvis from heparin (blood thinner) that was administered to dissolve blood clots in her arm. Finally, on January 15, 2016, Crystal came home from the hospital.
AN UNDIAGNOSED FUTURE
The doctors still do not know what caused Crystal’s heart to go into “ventricular fibrillation.” She has never had heart problems, or any signs of a weak heart: no fatigue, no shortness of breath, no chest pains, no palpitations, nothing. As the Doctors do not know what caused her heart to fail, she was prescribed an external defibrillator device to wear until some more testing can be done. After that, she will have an internal defibrillator implanted in her chest until the doctors can diagnose her condition. Although Crystal does not remember the accident, which is apparently normal, she also suffers from additional long term and short term memory issues. Crystal will need a lot of rehab to recover from her injuries and to get her life back to normal.
The medical bills are beginning to arrive and they are already past $10,000. She was able to get health insurance through the health exchange, but due to her condition and other factors, the monthly payments are high and the insurance does not take effect until March. She has been taken out of work by her doctors for the next 8 to 10 weeks, so she has no income. She will also need surgery so she can have the internal defibrillator which will enable her to have a normal life.
I’VE ALWAYS DEPENDED ON THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS
Crystal is now in need of another miracle to help her recover from this horrible accident. The fundraising amount of $50,000 is just an early estimate to cover her medical bills, as well as other expenses that need to be covered until she is allowed to go back to work. Her internal defibrillator alone will cost $8,000, and that is with insurance. She is too proud to ask for help herself, so as her fiancé, I’m asking for her. Please, be her miracle and donate whatever amount you can afford. If the medical bills are not as much as predicted, then whatever donations that are not used will be donated to another person’s medical bills on gofundme. Thank you for your kindness in helping Crystal get through this terrible ordeal.
On January 2, 2016, Crystal Marrs started her Saturday just like she normally would when she had to work her produce job at Kroger. She got out of bed without waking me, did her regular morning routine, and went to work for her eight hour shift. When she had finished work at 3:00 pm, she got in her car and began to drive home. Little did she know that, through no fault of her own, her life was about to be changed forever.
On Crystal’s way home, at approximately 3:22 pm, she suffered a cardiac arrest that caused her to lose consciousness while she was driving. Fortunately, it was a single car accident and nobody else was involved when her 2002 Honda Accord went off South Atlanta Road, through some bushes, and hit a utility pole going 30 mph. At 3:29 pm, Cobb County Fire and Police arrived on the scene to find Crystal unresponsive and began CPR as soon as they could get her out of the car. On her way to Kennestone Hospital, she suffered a second “ventricular fibrillation” and was “shocked” back to a normal heart rhythm by EMS.
A MIRACLE OCCURS
Doctors at the Kennestone emergency room were able to stabilize Crystal, but fearful that her brain tissue may have been damaged due to lack of oxygen, they put her into a medically induced hypothermic coma for 48 hrs. Basically, her body temperature was lowered to 92 degrees in order to slow the body from metabolizing cells, with the goal being to halt any tissue damage that may have occurred to her brain. While she was still unresponsive, I asked the doctors “On a scale of one to ten, what are her chances of waking up and coming out of this?” I was told a “three.”
On January 5, 2016, at 10:30 am, Crystal beat all the odds: she opened her eyes, looked at me, and understood what I said to her. The doctors in the CCU were amazed and said that it was nothing short of a miracle that she woke up. She would spend the next four days in the CCU, where she would be known as the “miracle girl,” and was told to other patient’s families in the unit as a story of hope. She would have to spend another six days in the hospital recovering from her injuries, as well as a surgery to resolve a hematoma that developed in her pelvis from heparin (blood thinner) that was administered to dissolve blood clots in her arm. Finally, on January 15, 2016, Crystal came home from the hospital.
AN UNDIAGNOSED FUTURE
The doctors still do not know what caused Crystal’s heart to go into “ventricular fibrillation.” She has never had heart problems, or any signs of a weak heart: no fatigue, no shortness of breath, no chest pains, no palpitations, nothing. As the Doctors do not know what caused her heart to fail, she was prescribed an external defibrillator device to wear until some more testing can be done. After that, she will have an internal defibrillator implanted in her chest until the doctors can diagnose her condition. Although Crystal does not remember the accident, which is apparently normal, she also suffers from additional long term and short term memory issues. Crystal will need a lot of rehab to recover from her injuries and to get her life back to normal.
The medical bills are beginning to arrive and they are already past $10,000. She was able to get health insurance through the health exchange, but due to her condition and other factors, the monthly payments are high and the insurance does not take effect until March. She has been taken out of work by her doctors for the next 8 to 10 weeks, so she has no income. She will also need surgery so she can have the internal defibrillator which will enable her to have a normal life.
I’VE ALWAYS DEPENDED ON THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS
Crystal is now in need of another miracle to help her recover from this horrible accident. The fundraising amount of $50,000 is just an early estimate to cover her medical bills, as well as other expenses that need to be covered until she is allowed to go back to work. Her internal defibrillator alone will cost $8,000, and that is with insurance. She is too proud to ask for help herself, so as her fiancé, I’m asking for her. Please, be her miracle and donate whatever amount you can afford. If the medical bills are not as much as predicted, then whatever donations that are not used will be donated to another person’s medical bills on gofundme. Thank you for your kindness in helping Crystal get through this terrible ordeal.
Organizer
Ethan Scott Williams
Organizer
Atlanta, GA
