Ria the Rainbow Warrior!

In early June, the day started out like any other summer day for Ri. Nothing could have prepared her and her beloved Brent for what occurred later that evening. Unexpectedly, Ri fell back into a cardiac arrest. Thanks to Brent's swift action to do CPR and call emergency services, she was transferred into the ICU and the medical staff did everything they could to stabilize her. She required full life support the first two weeks and remained in the ICU for 3 weeks in an induced coma. It has been a slow and careful process to bring Ri back to life, but every little success has been both a miracle and a sigh of relief.  It took another 2 weeks after initially removing sedation for her recover enough to be removed from the ICU and be transferred to a rehabilitation facility appropriate to treat her medical condition.

Through this challenging experience the tests revealed an undetected genetic heart condition in Ri. She has had a pacemaker successfully installed, which is a great step forward but the road to recovery is still long. She did suffer some brain damage from the anoxia her brain experienced during the period of time she experienced cardiac arrest, and this extends her recovery timeline.

She will require the best care and top notch speech and physical therapists for full recovery.  

If you know Ri, you know she is a blessing to know. If you don't, I can assure she is one of the special ones. She is determined to fully recover, return to finish school (she has one year left!) and even hopes to camp and play with her pups for many years to come.  

Every bit that you can offer to ease the financial strain that comes with such an unexpected life threatening medical emergency is greatly appreciated.  

Huzzah!