Support Chris's Fight Against Lung Disease

Update: Chris was able to go home for Christmas. He is on the transplant list and staying as safe as possible from additional illnesses. He, his parents and his brother and sister are beyond Grateful for all the donations and Support. We are still striving to reach goals in both financial and emotional support. Please donate or share Chris's story. Any help makes a difference! I will provide additional updates as often as possible. Again thank you for supporting Chris and his family on this journey!

My name is Angie Powell, I am raising funds for my nephew Chris to help with medical bills associated with a double lung transplant.

He is a normal 17 year old in both mind and spirit. He loves art, music, hard work and life. He has an older brother, Will and younger sister, Allison and they are the closest siblings I’ve ever met.

He was born with constricted bronchial tubes and lungs and came down with RSV as a baby which weakened his lungs. He spent much of his infancy, childhood and teenage years in Children’s Hospital due to multiple lung infections and pneumonia which further weakened his lungs and was eventually diagnosed with Interstitial Lung disease/Bronchiolitis. To help everyone understand this disease I’m posting a link and description I have found on the American Lung Association’s website:

https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/interstitial-lung-disease#:~:text=Interstitial%20lung%20disease%20(ILD)%20is,is%20strongly%20encouraged%20to%20quit.

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is an umbrella term used for a large group of diseases that cause scarring (fibrosis) of the lungs. The scarring causes stiffness in the lungs which makes it difficult to breathe and get oxygen to the bloodstream. Lung damage from ILDs is often irreversible and gets worse over time.

Bronchiectasis is a chronic lung condition where the walls of your airways (bronchi) widen and are thickened from inflammation and infection.

In early October 2024, Chris was once again admitted to Children’s Hospital in Kansas City, with walking pneumonia. He and his parents were advised at that time that the damage to his lungs was so extreme and that he was now in need of a double lung transplant. He is now on a list, to be added to a list of candidates in need of a lung transplant.

Chris on Thanksgiving was admitted to Children’s Hospital on November 30, 2024, for a duration of 2 weeks, due to inflamation in his right lung. This has caused his lung to expand and put pressure on the right side of his heart, which was causing his heart to not beat properly. Upon admission he had a pic-line put into veins for high dose antibiotics and steroids. The doctors are performing testing for any additional immune diseases or any indications for his condition that could be tied to his DNA. We are waiting for results at this time. I am reaching out on this platform in hopes of finding financial help for Chis, and his family. The financial strain of this situation has and will continue to create extreme emotional and financial stress at a time when Chris’s parent’s only worry should be the care, love and treatment of their son as well as the emotional care of his other siblings and themselves, as parents.

Below is Chris’s story, in his words and some pictures of his art that he has created to help him deal with the emotional rollercoaster he is on while striving to survive this disease:

I derive my art from my emotions that I'm feeling and I use it as a medium to help myself express my emotions in a healthy way.

I’m really interested in physics and astronomy, specifically quantum mechanics and string theory.

Learning more about physics led me into philosophy and caused me to look deeper into myself and start asking myself important questions like what I want to do in my life?, what would make me happy?. What is my purpose?

I want to go to Kansas University to do their respiratory therapy program so I can help kids with issues that I’ve struggled with my whole life so I’d hope to be able to bring them comfort and a different kind of empathy that I personally didn't experience when I was younger and I think it would be helpful for them to know that it gets better and that they’re not alone

Going through all my life struggles has lead me to becoming someone who loves to grow and change as much as possible, life is full of amazing uncertainty and I’d love to experience as much as I can while I can, not necessarily living everyday like it’s my last because I live with hope that tomorrow will come even though it’s not promised.

I’d like to be an advocate for kids that are born with chronic/terminal illnesses and their mental health and they’re experiences that I believe aren’t handled in the way they should be.