Support Gabby Shives' Family & Medical Journey

To those reading, hello, my name is Kirsten.

On December 13th, my mom's wife, and my other parent, Gabby Shives, experienced a cardiac arrest at roughly 5 AM after my mom found her gasping for air and experiencing seizure-like activity, and she was rushed to St E's downtown. I was woken traumatically by paramedics in our house, hearing the sounds of the defibrillator, and experiencing unknown horror and terror. I am 21 and currently in college, and my little brother LJ is 18 and works at a recovery and rehabilitation facility.

Since this happened, my family has experienced nothing short of an absolute nightmare that no family should ever go through. We have never gone through something so traumatic and random. Gabby is only 45 with absolutely no co-morbitites, prior diseases, or conditions.

For those that know Gabby, you know her sarcasm and humor is the best thing about her. Her kind and caring heart extends to her area of work, where she is a Chemical Dependency Counselor, helping those that need her most. She has always been someone to take the shirt off her back for a stranger, and lend a hand to those that need it. She is nothing short of a wonderful woman, friend, family member, and has been a rock for me and my brother since we were extremely young. Her and my mother have been together for decades now, and my mother absolutely considers her a soulmate, best friend, and partner in crime, all in one.

As a family, we have always been on our own. But we also recognize we need assistance, even though we would typically never do this. All proceeds from this will go towards medical bills, house payments, groceries, and other necessities.

I can't thank everyone enough for their prayers, kind thoughts, and wishes. This has been a horrendous nightmare and we absolutely appreciate the outpouring support for our little family. Thank you for making it this far, I will continue to update as time goes by.