Please help with Erin's recovery

Update March 7th 2024: I should have updated this many months ago but I was coward, the fundraiser was dormant, and these words are hard.

Erin passed away on November 19th 2023 at the age of 32. In the time between her cardiac arrest on Feb 27th and her death she managed to regain only minimal consciousness. She was left in full cardiac arrest in the ER unattended for too long, and the anoxic brain injuries caused by that negligence were insurmountable, even for someone as determined, strong, and brave as Erin. They led directly to her death.

We all truly hoped and believed Erin could recover at least to a degree that she could enjoy some semblance of happiness. I thank you all for assisting us in the fight to save my little sister. Your donations paid for the $46,000 life flight from San Diego to the Spaulding Rehab center in Boston, and quite a few other medical things Erin needed in her battle to conquer the violence the negligent hospital did to her.

I don't have wise words or happy thoughts to close this out. I'm angry and broken and I miss my sister so much it makes me physically ill. Thank you all for trying so hard to help. I will never ever forget the kindness you all showed. It's a debt I and my family can never repay. If we had a healthcare system that even pretended to function, gofundme's like this would be unnecessary and my sister would be alive and cuddling her dogs and texting me snarky jokes today.

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Hi, I'm Kate, Erin's older sister and I'm hoping you can join me in supporting her recovery process.

Erin is 31 years old and is my hero. She's an attorney running a one-person practice in San Diego specializing in defending tenants in landlord disputes. She fosters dogs. She loves painting ridiculous portraits of the dogs she fosters and of her two special needs rescue dogs, Vida and Penny. She is a vibrant, brilliant, determined, kind person who has spent her life giving back and standing up for those who need it most. But right now, it’s Erin who needs help most.

On Monday February 27th, 2023, my mother found Erin unconscious on her bathroom floor. She was rushed to the hospital where it was discovered she had a gastrointestinal hemorrhage and had nearly bled to death internally. She’d not noticed the symptoms of the hemorrhage for several days as she’d been very under the weather since getting covid and the flu back to back in late 2022. At the time Erin didn’t have health insurance, and was reluctant to seek care, especially as it would disrupt her work schedule. As she so often did, Erin put her responsibilities first.

Sadly, the long period of illness as well as the severe blood loss left Erin in an incredibly weakened state. She had three blood transfusions on Monday afternoon and was beginning to feel better. In the early hours of Tuesday Feb 28th, while prepping to do a colonoscopy in order to locate the gastrointestinal hemorrhage, Erin went into cardiac arrest. For ten minutes the doctors did CPR, and finally Erin came back. She is and has always been such a fighter.

Since the cardiac arrest Erin has been in a state medically known as ‘semi-consciousness’. Though her body has done a tremendous job of healing from the trauma of the hemorrhage and subsequent cardiac arrest, she’s having trouble swimming back to the surface of consciousness. She will need extensive care at a specialized neuro rehab facility. With the right care, she can make a good recovery, and if anyone can claw their way back to a state of betterness, it’s my little sister.

Erin has no family in San Diego and there are precious few facilities that specialize in cases like hers. Her insurance will only cover certain aspects of her care and will not cover the medi-flight that she will need to get from San Diego to the facility in Boston. That flight alone could cost tens of thousands. Please please help us to raise the money to help Erin’s during her recovery process.

She is a young woman who has given so much already and still has such a bright future ahead of her if she can get this absolutely essential care.