Support Zac Wentzel After The Loss Of His Person, Amanda

I am creating this fundraiser to help my long-time friend, Zac Wentzel, during one of the most difficult times (emotionally, physically, spiritually, and financially) that a person can ever go through. We can't take away the pain of this experience, but we can help in a tangible way - by decreasing the financial strain so he can move forward and begin to heal his broken heart.

For those not in the know, here's what happened:

On November 8 of this year, Zac's wife Amanda - who received a double lung transplant in 2016 due to her Cystic Fibrosis - was rushed to the hospital in Portland due to severe respiratory distress. She was intubated 2 separate times before being life-flighted to Boston's Brigham & Women's Hospital. After 3 days there, she improved enough to be able to come off the ventilator. This was short-lived, however, as her oxygen decreased and respiratory failure returned, necessitating putting her back on the ventilator. Amanda remained on the ventilator and also underwent dialysis for the next week while the doctors and nurses fought tirelessly to try and correct what was happening. Unfortunately and tragically, Amanda was unable to recover from this as her lungs became too badly injured. Zac had to make the hardest decision a husband can ever make and say goodbye to his best friend and the love of his life.

Amanda was a selfless woman, who through her whole life fighting Cystic Fibrosis, always supported others as best she could in their time of need, and was a light of positivity and happiness for all that she touched. Even at the time of her passing, Amanda gave selflessly one last time by becoming an organ donor - she allowed someone to live on as she had through the gift of donation.

Zac spent three weeks sitting bedside with Amanda, supporting her, staying very involved with her care, doing his best to keep the positive vibes and energy with her, and being her rock.

Zac, who is self-employed, has not been able to work in nearly a month while he took care of Amanda and stayed with her. This, as you can imagine, took a terrible toll on their family savings - between the cost of traveling to Boston and back, the expenses of staying in Boston, and maintaining household bills all while not having any income coming in.

I'd like us all to come together to help Zac cover the cost of Amanda's cremation, funeral services, and the bills involved with her hospital stay. My hope is that Zac might be able to negotiate this extremely difficult time with their son Garen (and during the holiday season nonetheless!) without having to focus on the financial hardship as well. Any amount you can give (no amount is too small) to help alleviate this hardship would be greatly appreciated. Even if you can’t donate at this time, prayers and shares of this post are most appreciated.