A Heart Transplant for Foley

"I know God only gives me what I can handle, but sometimes I wish he didn't trust me this much." This is a GofundMe for our friend Eric Foley, as he continues the fight of his life and awaits a heart transplant.

Eric's Story: 

Anniversaries are usually things we look forward to, but for our friend Eric Foley, he suffered the cruelest of anniversary reminders on March 21, 2018, ten years to the date his life had been changed forever. On March 21, 2008, as a carefree college student returning from Spring Break, the unthinkable happened to the healthy young  Eric, he suffered heart failure and nearly died. After a two month stay in the hospital, with his girlfriend Ariana (now his lovely wife) by his side, he slowly recovered and was released with an internal defibrillator. He returned to a normal life, graduated college, started his career, and married his college sweetheart. 

Eric and Ariana settled in his hometown of Braintree and everything was on track for the American dream: house, marriage, careers, and a new beautiful baby girl Amalia. Then like a sick joke, ten years to the date of his original heart failure, March 21, 2018, Eric suffered a stroke and was once again left fighting for his life. A blood clot traveled up his body and 100% blocked his carotid artery. The neurology surgeons at Brigham and Woman’s were able to go in and clear the the block. Eric was  luckily only left with right hand weakness but things could have been a lot worse. The stroke negatively affected his heart function as well but was stabilized enough to go home and start Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy and Cardiac Rehab.


The Stroke ended up doing major damage to Eric’s heart and he ended up in the Hospital in October of 2018 with symptoms of shortest of breath and  edema. After 5 days in the hospital, Eric was released only ending up back in the hospital on November 15th with the symptoms he had on the previous stay. After being admitted into the hospital Eric’s health deteriorated and he found out his heart was completely failing. Eric was listed on the Heart Transplant list right away and ended up having multiple procedures and all failed and then the last resort was an open heart surgery to have a  left ventricular assist device(LVAD) put into pump his heart for him. He then spent months living in intensive care at Brigham and Women's. He had a great team of doctors and nurses and became well known on his floor as a cool guy. His family was by his side daily and one bright spot was his wife Ariana, who is a nurse, was able to transfer her job to Brigham and Woman’s so she could spend time with Eric on breaks. They also celebrated their daughters first thanksgiving, christmas and new years in the hospital 

Thankfully Eric is now home, outfitted with a LVAD heart pump, pumping his heart for him, as he waits on the transplant list. But the fight is not over.

Let's Help the Foleys

Since suffering his stroke Eric has been unable to work. In addition to needing a new heart, during a 10-day lapse in health insurance, he had two of his most major surgeries and was also in the ICU, leaving him with an enormous hospital bill. 

His family has had to live off Ariana's income and generous support from both of their families. But anyone that has been through serious medical issues knows that the bills don't stop, especially while raising a new baby. This is not about asking for a handout, this is about helping great people in trying times. Eric and Ariana would be the first people to help anyone else out and it's time we rally around them and show how much we care. 

The money we raise will help him support his family while he is out of work for up to a year or more, including their medical costs, living expenses, childcare, and the 24/7 care that he will need post-transplant.  

Eric's been a lifelong Braintree resident, cool guy, good friend, good son, fun husband, decent snowboarder, and now a father. I honestly don't know anyone that doesn't like him and he's one of the good ones. Let's help ease the stress as they continue the fight. Anything you can give is appreciated and will go towards helping a young family in their time of need.