Hi, my name is Ashley and I'm trying to raise money so we can have my stepfather, Dave Mistriel, cremated and bring him home to us.

We have until Feb 18th to raise funds and have him picked up from the hospital before we are no longer able to do so.

Dave suffered from chronic end stages of emphysema and COPD.

Dave stopped breathing late last Tuesday night, 1/13/26, when I was at work. I have a huge amount of guilt as this time I was not there to start CPR immediately. EMS got there quickly but were unsuccessful in getting him to breathe on his own or maintain his pulse. He was intubated on the way to the hospital. Unfortunately, he went into cardiac arrest. The hospital worked on him and was finally able to stabilize him after about 45 minutes or so. Despite being intubated and being given oxygen during this time, there was a risk of inadequate oxygen being able to get to his brain. He was placed on the ventilator with sedation to help keep him stable and comfortable. The following day, they decreased his sedation to let him slowly wake up, but he was confused and would not stay calm, so they upped his sedation again. That moment gave us hope that he would be back home soon. Unfortunately, when they removed him from sedation the second time, he would not wake up. After 48 hours of him not waking, they performed an MRI. The results shattered us. It confirmed he had severe brain damage, the kind he would not recover from. The decision was made to remove him from life support Sunday, 1/18. We got to say our goodbyes, and he passed shortly after.

Dave is so very loved and missed every day. My children are heartbroken and begging that we bring him back home. There is never a "good time" for something like this to happen, but this unfortunately comes at an unusually tight time when I'm 7 months pregnant. So with a very heavy but hopeful heart, I ask for your help. Anything at all helps and is so very appreciated. Thank you so much. God bless.