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Save Ashwati’s brain before it’s too late

Ashwati is the backbone of our family. She’s the one who keeps us together with her passion, hard-work and down-to-earth attitude. She’s the one that brings a smile to my face, a laugh to my heart and meaning to my life. Most importantly, she’s the one who brings joy, love and strength to our two young kids. They need her light more than anyone else, yet her light is slowly dying. My heart breaks at the thought of these two amazing souls growing up without their mom guiding the way and pushing them along.


Ashwati was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at the very young age of 18. MS is a nasty disease that slowly eats away at her brain, slowly crippling her with increasingly severe pains, cognitive difficulties and muscle weakness. This didn’t stop her from completing her university studies, starting a career and giving birth to two amazing children whom I would literally die for. She’s a passionate fighter and I’ve been at her side fighting her fight for the last ten years. Things haven’t been easy for us. If managing her deteriorating brain wasn’t hard enough, our first son was diagnosed with 22q. He was ripped away from his mother at birth, spent his first weeks in an intensive care unit and underwent heart surgery before he was even 2 months old. He is a little warrior fighting against developmental and speech issues. I can see his mother’s passion animating his eyes and little movements, and know he wouldn’t have made it this far without her.


Over the past few years, Ashwati’s disease as taken a turn for the worst. She’s frequently so weak by the end of the day that she can barely take her own shower. She’s bruised up from losing balance and hitting all sorts of corners around the house. Her pains can now get so intense and widespread that she can’t even talk to me. At this point I’m forced to admit that this burden will break us if we don’t do something fast. But I’m not giving up.


While she’s exhausted all treatment options available to her in Canada, there is hope. Just in time, there’s an innovative treatment that’s become available in Europe and other advanced medical centres around the world. By going out-of-country and submitting herself to chemotherapy followed by stem cell transplant (called aHSCT), Ashwati can kick this nasty disease out of her life before she's too far gone. The price tag is high however, at $68,000 plus travel and living expenses. We’re willing to do whatever it takes to get this done, including spending all of our savings and getting into debt, but the reality is that this is putting our family’s future at risk. There’s a long recovery coming out of this treatment and I can’t return to work while caring for her and our two kids. We need help to go through this without breaking under this unfair physical, emotional and financial burden.

Please, give us a chance to fight a fair fight by making a donation today, and sending prayers for Ashwati’s speedy and successful recovery.

Donations 

  • Carsten Van Kamperdijk
    • $600 
    • 4 yrs

Organizer and beneficiary

Vincent Courtemanche
Organizer
New Westminster, BC
Ashwati Courtemanche
Beneficiary

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