Support Michael Louton After The Death of His Wife, Jean
Donation protected
My name is Kelly Louton. I made this fundraiser to try and help my family, specifically my dad, Michael Louton, after the death of my mom, Jean Louton, on Monday, January 20th, 2025.
I'm asking that in lieu of any flowering being sent, to please consider donating that money directly to us. While anything is always appreciated, what's needed most right now is financial assistance (money) for my Dad.
With my mom gone, in addition to losing his wife of almost 44 years, my dad will also lose her monthly income and has been advised that there will be a reduction in his monthly check from the VA (Veterans Affairs). This is an insult to injury - as they were having financial struggles to begin with. I just want my dad to be as okay as he can. We lost my older brother, James, on 11/02/2019 (on my mom's birthday of all days), and now he's lost his wife and life partner. The last thing I want him to go through is the stress of not having financial security.
What happened:
One week ago today, on Monday night, 01/13/2025, around 11:30pm my mom had a catastrophic asthma attack which caused complete respiratory failure and cardiac arrest (she also had the flu and mild bronchitis, which made matters worse). While my dad and brother Steven tried giving her CPR, and the paramedics arrived quickly, they were not able to revive her in enough time.
After about 6-8 minutes, the paramedics managed to regain a pulse, but the damage was done and they had to intubate her with a ventilator. We spent the next 72-80 hours in the hospital waiting for answers. We spent those days in a "50-50 situation", but things didn't look good at all.
On Friday, 01/17/2025, we were finally given the "official prognosis" that she would not be surviving this event (less than 1% chance).
Ultimately, my mom suffered "cerebral hypoxia" (loss of oxygen to the brain), which caused significant, irreversible brain damage. We were given a "less than 1% chance" of survival. If my mom were to ever "recover" (as in, beat that 1% chance), the prognosis was that she would have absolutely no quality of life or any sort of meaningful recovery (she'd never walk, talk, be able to move her arms or legs at all, ever again at best), or she would be in a complete vegetative (unresponsive) state for the rest of her life. If you could even call that a life...
Our entire family knew my mom's wishes in this scenario - unanimously. She was extremely clear (and blunt) about this stuff with everyone who knew her. Definitively, we all knew that under NO circumstances could we allow her to remain like this any longer than absolutely necessary (after initial diagnosis and to give family enough time to visit her).
The last week has been, without a doubt, one of the hardest, most taxing weeks we've ever experienced. We're so grateful for such an incredible support system both near and far.
A piece of good news in all this:
On Saturday 01/18/2025, after speaking with AdventHealth's hospice team to start that process, we were approached by a woman from an affiliate organization called "Our Legacy". We were informed that not only was my mom eligible to be an organ donor, but she was among the 15% (extremely rare scenario) that could save multiple lives.
Our family was shocked to learn this, as my mom had been led to believe by several doctors in the recent past that due to her overall health and medications she'd been on for years, that she'd "never qualify" to be an organ donor.
Despite the tragedy we're experiencing, my mom's death ended up giving the gift of life to at least three different people. She was able to donate both her kidneys and her liver. She also donated her corneas and gave someone their sight back. Her heart and pancreas will also be used for medical studies, which will end up saving even more lives. THIS is what my mom wanted. She always wanted to help people (and animals). She always wanted to be an organ donor. Just knowing that she, as her last act of service to others, literally saved lives, would make her happier than anything. It's also a piece of joy that she's left with her entire family. Despite the immense sadness we're going through, we know that there are at least three other families who won't be going through the grief we currently are. This is such an incredible gift and comfort to us, as we're sure it is to them.
A little more about my mom:
Everyone who knew my mom knows what a force she was. She was the life of a party, she was blunt, she was sarcastic, she was funny, and she always wanted to make people laugh. Even in the worst situations imaginable (and my family has had a few), she'd implement her super funny, morbid sense of dark humor to lighten the mood. She was a fiercely caring woman who did anything she could for other people or animals. She’s come home with stray animals on more than one occasion. She was an advocate for ANYONE in need. If she saw a person or animal being mistreated, it was best to get out of her way. She was an incredible woman and mother. She loved her family more than anything else. She was our rock. These are a few things to give you an understanding of her magical, magnetic, amazing personality.
In knowing this, we all spent the last week with her as much as possible, in any way we could. We made wildly inappropriate dark humor-style jokes with one another and hospital staff. We listened to lots of music she liked, told stories, and did our best to keep a smile on our (and the hospital staff's) faces. Despite the situation we were in, we kept the atmosphere of the room exactly how SHE would have wanted it. We kept the "solemn s**t" to a minimum. Of course, we felt ALL the feelings (mom always encouraged it), but we also made sure to act as (in)appropriately as she would have liked... and done so herself.
Funds vs. Flowers:
Anyone who knew my mom, Jean ("Jeannie"), knows she loved gardening and plants. If they didn't already know this, they'd be unsurprised to learn that she wasn't a fan of "cut" flowers (aside from what my dad would bring her as a surprise), because no matter what, they'd eventually wither and die. When it comes to "memorial" flowers, to her those flowers would eventually die, which was only a reminder of the person you'd already lost.
So, in an effort to honor my mom and how she was about these things, and to help my dad however I can, I'm asking for any money that would be spent on flowers, to be sent directly to us or through this fundraiser.
If you don't prefer using GoFundMe, I've also got Venmo, PayPal, and Zelle. Links to those sites are included below.
ALL money received will be used to help my dad directly:
Pay off my mom's new medical bills, her cremation, help with my dad's upcoming or unexpected bills.
I’ll keep working on their house, which still needs a significant amount of repairs. Money has been super tight for years, so we've been doing what we could as we could, but it never seems to be enough. But we do what we can and keep upbeat about it.
Finally…
We want to thank everyone for their words of support, prayers, love, and positivity throughout all this. We appreciate every single one of you, near and far.
Also, for those wondering about the experience we had in the hospital in general (that's been asked a few times), the staff at Advent Health were among some of the most patient, compassionate, efficient, caring hospital staff any of us have ever encountered. Not only did they go above and beyond to ensure my mom was in zero pain and comfortable, but they went out of their way to help us (the family) while we were with her. We couldn’t ask for a better team to care for her during all this. We are genuinely thankful that she ended up at AdventHealth and had the experience we did. I know my mom approves as well.
I know we're still in shock and reeling from the last week. I don’t know what else I can actually do right now, so I wanted to take some time and see what I can do to help my dad. He needs it.
At the very least, I just wanted explain the situation in better detail, to give a better understanding of what happened.
If you want to and are able, any help, no matter how big or small, is appreciated. If you can’t help financially, please consider sharing my fundraiser to spread the word. And at the very least, please keep our family in your thoughts during this time. Any action, no matter how big or small you think it is, is appreciated and something we are thankful for.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Take care.
Sincerely,
Kelly Louton
Alternate Donation Methods:
Venmo:
PayPal:
Zelle - please use the name:
Name: Kelly Louton
Email: Please message me directly for information.
Organizer
Kelly L
Organizer
Orlando, FL