Miss A was just 8 years old when she was nominated for assistance through The Butterfly Foundation’s support program. Miss A’s family consists of two loving parents and two older sisters who are 16 and 12 years old. They are immigrants from India and a part of the Colorado Christian Academy community.
In 2021, 7 year old Miss A was healthy and in school, she had been born with a heart condition and was now at her most able state. Her journey up to this point had not been an easy one. From birth, she had been eating through a G-tube and had to have a lot more assistance from her parents and older sisters completing her activities of daily life. She persevered learning to eat without the G-tube and gained control of her body so that she could enjoy life as any other child at her. At 7, Miss A had a full life at school with friends and was as normal as she could be, with the exception of her heart condition and the G-tube that was still in place for medicine.
Last October 2021 Miss A hadn’t been feeling well and so her parents immediately booked an appointment with Miss A’s heart specialist. During the check up, Miss A went into cardiac arrest and fought for her life for 16 minutes. Once the cardiac event ceased, Miss A’s brain had been injured during the event and she was labeled brain dead. Miss A was previously on the list to receive a heart transplant, but because of the new status of her brain activity she no longer qualified and was ineligible.
Miss A’s family not only had to bear the burden of worry for their daughter and sister, but they would to begin to face large obstacles that would change life as they knew it. Unfortunately their home needed to be fumigated due to pests returning home with them from the hospital. Many things needed to be thrown out and replaced. Once they were allowed back in, Mis A’s parents both took on her 24/7 care to fulfill all of her needs. They suffered unemployment as they had been unable to find sufficient and reliable home health care for their daughter in post pandemic times. The family’s emotions were stretched, not only from the level of care they are having to provide for their daughter, but for themselves and watching each other struggle.
With the help of a school friend, Miss A came into contact with The Butterfly Foundation and was able to create her support strategy to support her, and her family, as they got back on their feet to and feel normal again. The Butterfly Foundation was able to provide a pressure relief mattress for Miss A to lay comfortably on, groceries for the family for 3 months, a hot meals for the family when Miss A unfortunately returned for a brief time to the hospital, and support in finding mental health resources. Lastly, The Butterfly Foundation was able to assist with past utility bills and provide mortgage payment relief, with the help of private donors. Today the family is still adjusting to life, as Miss A continues to heal and the rest of the family gets back into their own routines.
The Butterfly Foundation is honored to have been a support to Miss A and her family during this challenging time in their lives. If you know of any Colorado families who could use assistance, please do not hesitate to nominate them for our support program. Application can be found on our Support Program Application page or by following this link: https://coloradobutterflyfoundation.org/apply/
Upon her death, Jennifer’s family learned that her estate would need to be directed toward her sizable medical bills, which meant her children would be without funds toward their future educational needs.
