Hello friends and family of Jerome, Lissa, and Aiden,

I'm Ann Cash, their sister-in-law. My husband Travis is Lissa's brother. We know so many of you have been praying for them and supporting them over the last few month of Jerome's illness and we thank God for each and every one of you! Here is a little background on why I wanted to start this fundraiser and why I’m keeping it going: 

Jerome became ill with what doctors thought was a virus in September. As his breathing continued to decline, doctors had no clue what was causing it but suspected he had pneumonia. His breathing worsened rapidly and on November 16th, he was admitted to the hospital. On November 27th, he was transferred to the ICU and within two days needed intubation and the support of an ECMO (lung bypass machine) to help him breathe and keep his oxygen levels up.

Several days later, tests came back positive for an extremely rare autoimmune condition that causes rapid lung failure from severe inflammation. The doctors started him on multiple immunosuppressant medications to attempt to heal his lungs. He went on to develop complications including multiple blood infections and necrotizing pneumonia. His mom, sister, aunt, Lissa, and Aiden stayed by his side, advocating for any treatments that might help him.

Unfortunately on Friday, January 24th, it became clear that his body couldn’t fight any longer. With broken hearts, we committed Jerome to the Lord and said goodbye until we meet again in Heaven. 

All of you know what a warm and generous person Jerome was. He worked SO hard to provide for his family and to support Lissa, who has many disabling health conditions herself. He was Aiden's best buddy, exemplifying what it meant to be a loving and nurturing father. He was a devoted follower of Jesus and blessed his friends and community in so many big and small ways! We miss him SO much already.

To say that this has been a devastating event for the entire family is an understatement. We want to show our love for the Olveras by raising what we can to help with medical expenses, funeral arrangements, the mortgage, and groceries. In the coming months, Lissa will also need to sell the house, as she cannot maintain it by herself. We also want to ask for your continued intercession on their behalf as they figure out the next steps. We trust in God’s loving care for Lissa and Aiden. Our deepest gratitude goes out to YOU, the family of God for being the hands and feet of Jesus to us during this terribly difficult time. 

Romans 8: 37-39: "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come,

nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord".