Sarah Vander Meulen Memorial Funds
Sarah daughter of Anthem residents, Cathy and Brian Vander Meulen known to those who loved her as "sweet and sassy Sarah” gained her angel wings on Tuesday October 27th.
Please join us in supporting her family during this very difficult time. All donations received will go towards Sarah’s final expenses.
About Sarah:
Sarah was an amazing girl that came to Brian and Cathy 6 1/2 weeks early on Christmas Eve 2009. When she was born, they discovered that she was missing a large section of her chromosome 18, including a gene called TCF4 which causes Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome.
This is a rare genetic condition that only approximately 350 cases have been reported in the world. This large deletion on chromosome 18 (distal 18q-) has caused Sarah to have many medical challenges. She was hospitalized for close to 14 months in her first 27 months of life. During that time, she had 13 different surgeries, including open heart surgery and 4 brain surgeries.
Even though Sarah had been through so much, she was such a happy, sweet girl. Sara had a trach,shunt, was fed by a tube 21 hours per day. She also battled infections every few months and seizures.
Sarah went in for a needed spinal fusion surgery and unexpectedly passed away due to complications on October 27th.