Standing With The Jowett's: Love, Loss & New Hope

On Wednesday, January 22nd, my brother Blake and his wife Mateja’s lives were forever changed.

What should have been the joyful arrival of their baby girl turned into devastation when Mateja suffered a rare pregnancy complication called Amniotic Fluid Embolism—an unpredictable and life-threatening condition that occurs in approximately 1 in 40,000 pregnancies. This resulted in the loss of their beautiful daughter, Zelda, in utero at 37 weeks and left Mateja fighting for her life in the ICU. She is currently receiving care at Ottawa General, making progress, but her road to recovery remains long and uncertain. In the past week and a half, she has endured among other things intubation, kidney failure requiring regular dialysis, endless blood transfusions and multiple surgeries—including one in which her uterus had to be removed to save her life, leaving her unable to bear children.

Blake, who is self-employed, has no access to EI benefits. He is spending every possible moment at Mateja’s bedside while also navigating life as the primary caregiver for their sweet 3-year-old son, Royce. Mateja, a devoted mother, wife, friend, and palliative care nurse who has always supported others in their most vulnerable moments, now needs our help.

A small portion of the proceeds will help Blake with regular expenses and travel costs during this difficult time, but the long-term goal is to give the Jowetts the opportunity to freeze Mateja’s eggs and pursue surrogacy, so they can complete the family that was so tragically taken from them. The approximate cost for the surrogacy process is $80,000.