Help Bring Karen Witt Home

Karen Witt needs our help. 

Six months ago, Karen nearly died.  She couldn't breathe, had no feeling or movement from her neck down to her toes, couldn't eat or talk, and was hooked up to machines. 

Today we get to hear her voice again, but she is trapped in a hospital bed with a health issue that has caused her paralysis. 

Arteriovenous malformation – or AVM – is a group of abnormal and poorly formed blood vessels (arteries and veins).  They can be found anywhere in the body, and because they're so poorly formed, they have a higher rate of bleeding.  It is a condition that is as rare and unique as Karen Witt herself.  Of all the outcomes of this condition, quadriplegia is not the one she thought she'd be facing at this time. 

True to her fighting spirit, Karen is determined against all odds to breath on her own.  Karen's doctors have implanted a diaphragmatic pacer (diaphragm pacing is the rhythmic application of electrical impulses to the diaphragm to provide ventilatory support for respiratory failure).   Learning to breathe with the pacemaker has allowed her to breathe without a tube.  Now that Karen is able to talk and eat again, she asks for strawberries and mimosas.  She hasn't lost her sense of humour.

Karen has recently had the tracheotomy removed and she is now breathing without aid for 12 hours during the day, with the pacemaker turned on only at night.  Maybe a testament to singing being chief among her loves. 
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Karen Witt is an accomplished singer and songwriter and has performed professionally for most of her adult life. She has recorded 2 albums with her band "Hunnay!" and performed and recorded in many other projects.  If you've ever walked downtown Collingwood, been to a local music festival or been lucky enough to be seated around a campfire with her, odds are you’ve heard the harmonious voice of Karen Witt. 
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Family and friends have watched Karen slowly lose the ability to continue to run her sign shop, ice skate, and play her mandolin. Since Karen was diagnosed as a young woman, she has faced multiple physical challenges as the condition progressed.  Karen has always faced each setback with determination.  Attempting to find a way around every problem and striving to continue living her life her way.  Most people had no idea Karen had a health issue at all. 
Karen is a thoughtful person.  She never forgets a birthday or phone number.  Calling up with a special birthday message or more likely a birthday song, Karen Witt style.  She's been known to show up at your house protesting, “I’m just barging” (she’s never barging), with Kinder eggs for the kids, and wine and chocolate for the adults.  She always tries to give the perfect gift on special occasions, but the best gift is always her time.  Karen has been a vibrant and active part of our community for more than 30 years and loved by many.  

Unfortunately, our health care does not have enough facilities to accommodate people with Karen's needs.  This leaves Karen falling through the cracks of the system.

Karen is fighting to breathe on her own so that she may be medically reclassified.  This may allow her a shorter wait time to get into a rehabilitation center.  This is her next step in healing.  She could possibly be in a hospital bed, waiting for a spot in a rehab facility for 2 years.  A rehab center is not her final destination as Karen will need long term care.   
                                                                                  Karen wants to come home.
To make it happen,
 1.  Her home will need to be converted into a fully accessible   residence  (Karen and Tim’s home is 2 stories) or more likely, move to a   different home that is a bungalow style, modified in the same manner. 
 2.  Karen’s home will need to be equipped with assistive devices.
 3.  A specialized bed. 
 4.  A specialized wheelchair.
 5.  Karen will need the aid of nurses and personal support workers every day. 
The costs of all of these things are somewhat unknown, but are sure to be expensive and are a lot more than Karen and Tim could ever begin to tackle on their own.
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Help bring Karen Witt home.  

Please donate and share this with  friends so we can reach as many people as possible.

Karen and Tim are so thankful for all the care Karen received from the doctors and nurses in ICU at Toronto Western Hospital.  They saved her life.   And to the staff at Collingwood General and Marine Hospital for their care and  safe, speedy transfer of Karen to the city.

Karen feels blessed to have all the outpouring of love from family and friends, especially from Tim, he has been Karen’s rock.  All of your support has really kept them both going.

Thank you