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Funeral Expenses for Brooke Haire

Donation protected
March 15, 2017

Last Wednesday (March 8th), at Brooke's neuro appointment, a regularly scheduled CT scan, showed Brooke's cervical shunt was malfunctioning and needed to be replaced.

Due to complications after surgery it was determined she had no brain activity.

These funds will be donated to the Haire family for funeral expenses.


Posted from Prayers for the Haire Family and updates:

"Yesterday shortly after 2:30pm, after extensive testing, Brooke was declared legally brain dead. While our hearts are broken, in our minds there was only one choice to make and we have chosen to donate Brooke's organs. It is our hope that we can spare another family the pain and heartache that we are facing. Brooke will not only continue to live in our hearts but will be able to give someone a second chance at life."



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Posted from previous Go Fund Me campaign "Standing Tall for Brooke": 


As a parent, I want to be able to give Brooke everything. For our family, everything means so much more than it did three years ago. As many of you know, Brooke was involved in a car accident October 13th, 2014 along with her eight month old sister Aubrey. Unfortunately, Aubrey passed away as a result of the car accident in the hours that followed, and Brooke sustained a c4 spinal cord injury. Due to the level of her injury, Brooke is paralyzed from the neck down and on a ventilator full time. In the days that followed our car accident, Brooke had a spinal fusion surgery as well as surgery to place a pacemaker, cervical shunt, trach and gtube. In the beginning, doctors weren't sure of Brookes prognosis. She suffered a tramautic brain injury in addition to the spinal cord injury, and we were prepared for the worst. Doctors didn't believe Brooke would ever breath again on her own, be able to walk, be able to feed herself or even eat again. We were prepared for significant memory loss, and the possibility of cognitive impairment. It truly was a nightmare we were living. While making funeral arrangements for one child, we were faced with the life altering decisions and changes our oldest daughter faced.

Despite all the odds stacked against her, Brooke has made strides in her recovery. Brookes TBI hasn't affected her as drastically as we were prepared for, and although she is still on the vent and unable to move from the neck down, she works extremely hard week after week to regain whatever abilities she can. We have been so fortunate to have the medical care nearby to assist in her growth and development. After months in inpatient rehab at Levine Children's Hospital, we were able to bring Brooke home. Since being home, we have transistioned out of homebound rehab into an outpatient setting. Every week we travel forty five minutes to an hour away for physical and occupational therapy, in addition to keeping regularly scheduled doctors appointments also the same distance. Brooke has a team of doctors working to ensure she stays stable, including her primary care physician, neurosurgeon, cardiologist, urologist, rehab doctor, and pulmonologist. Brooke has worked hard stregthening her head and neck muscles enabling her to use a head array to drive her power wheelchair. The independence she has gained from use of this as been immeasurable. Brooke was also able to start kindergarten on track this past fall in a regular classroom with a full-time nurse able to aid her throughout the day. She loves school so much and she excels in her studies. At the end of the school year, Brooke was reading on the highest level a kindergartener is tested at. The schools assistive technology department has enabled her to independently participate in class work with the use of aids such as a headmouse used with a Mac book pro, and an iPad with accessible switches attached to her wheelchair.

Although we are allotted nursing, currently (and for the majority of the time we've been home from the hospital) we are not receiving even a quarter of the nursing care we are allotted. As a parent, I'm sure you can understand how difficult it is to raise a family on one income and be able to meet all the needs of the family. To be able to do so, you have to make sacrifices. Right now, my husband is the only one working, as I'm Brookes full-time caregiver. At this point, there is no way I could go back to work as Brooke doesn't have consistency with nursing to allow me the opportunity to seek employment. Instead, I'm doing everything I can to push Brookes body and abilities as much as possible for the opportunity for her to have as much recovery as possible. As I stated to start with, I want to give my children everything. For Brooke, everything is a lot harder to give her than a child without her limitations. For her, everything is as simple as things you and I take for granted every day, the ability to walk, the ability to write, or to play games with her friends.

This summer Brooke was able to go to a week long summer day camp at Wings of Eagles ranch. I can't begin to tell you what that week has done in my child's life. She went from having multiple muscle spasms an hour, down to three for the entire week. I seen an increase in her core strength and head control after she spent the week riding horses, and doing other outdoor adventures they make available for kids of all abilities. On top of the physical benefits, emotionally camp was also very rewarding as Brooke never felt defeated, instead she felt uplifted and encouraged, and above all, she felt capable. On top of camp, Brooke also continues to dance, and this year even competed with a lyrical duet she and her dance instructor worked hard to perfect. Brooke still dreams of dancing in the nutcracker one day. She also loves to sing, to anyone that will listen, and she she has no fear when it comes to belting out tunes. After her insistence, we just helped Brooke compete in her first beauty pageant since her spinal cord injury. She had a wonderful time and even won the Spirit Queen title for the Mount Pleasant Independence Day pageant.

As you can see, Brooke is driven, and fearless. We work hard at home to make sure she's able to live her life to the fullest, despite being physically limited. That's where you come in. We would love for Brooke to participate in a more rigorous weight bearing therapy program, and after searching, we found somewhere within an hours drive that offers that type of program. Race to Walk charges $85 an hour, and has recommended that Brooke have two to three, one to two hour sessions a week. School is quickly approaching and I feel that we should make the most of the last few weeks she is home, before school and regular doctors and therapy visits fill our schedules. Because Race to Walk isnt classified as physical or occupational therapy, instead as Neuro fitness specialists, insurance won't cover the cost of treatment. Once school starts back, we would also like to have Brooke start regular hippa therapy at Wings of Eagles ranch. As of right now, insurance isn't available to cover the cost of this. In addition to these two therapies, we would also like to be able to buy Brooke her own computer and headmouse to be used at home so that she is able to continue independently learning and interacting with her peers. Right now, the school has allowe us use of their equipment over the summer, and Brooke is amazing with what she can do on that computer. She can write math equations, is able to draw using her head (this includes writting using her head and the headmouse), and type using an on-screen keyboard. She loves playing games and reading on her computer in addition to educational uses. A family member is working to provide Brooke with the computer, but we still need be able to provide the headmouse and software, which is priced around $1600.

Brooke has shown the world what it means to believe God is our ultimate healer. No matter what obstacles she's faced, she's continued to improve and remain joyful. Doctors have made many predictions that have been wrong when it comes to Brooke. We fully believe Brooke will make a full recovery, but we know we have to keep pushing, and keep fighting for new and cutting edge treatments and technologies along the way. God promises us that where we are now is not where we will end up, and because of that, I believe by continuing to push for more recovery, Brooke will be a testimony to the will of the Lord.

Thank you for taking time to read a little about Brooke, and for sharing our story. Our online community, in addition to friends and family, have blessed our family in more ways than we could ever repay.


www.facebook.com/cristenhaire
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Donations 

  • Brad Mawson
    • $30 
    • 7 yrs
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Organizer and beneficiary

Hillary Stewart
Organizer
Mooresville, NC
Cristen Haire
Beneficiary

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