For 2020 Q1, Keep Swimming Foundation’s Board of Directors selected four families to receive a combined $6,550 in financial aid.
The lives of these families have been improved because of the incredible generosity of our donors. The following are the stories of the latest Keep Swimming Foundation grant recipients:
Family #1 – Fargo, ND – Recipients of a $3,000 Grant
In January 2019, this family’s North Dakota farm house burnt to the ground after a defective furnace exploded in their basement. The entire family was inside the home. The mother was able to find her daughter, who rushed outside to discover her husband. Both thought the other had grabbed their four-year-old son. Unfortunately, he was still in the home. The father made several attempts to rescue their son, causing him to sustain third degree burns on 58% of his body. Sadly, he was unable to find their child, who perished in their home.
Shortly thereafter, the father was rushed to the nearest specialty burn center in Minnesota, where he is recovering to this day. His wife and mother have been at his bedside each day while a relative cares for and provides shelter for their daughter in North Dakota. While their community has rallied around their family to provide them with funds to build a new home, this grant will help both his mother and wife afford the hotel and bedside meal expenses associated with remaining at his bedside in Minnesota.
Family #2 – Erie, PA – Recipients of a $1,800 Grant
In 2014, the wife of this Pennsylvania couple was diagnosed with Pulmonary Hypertension. She received outpatient treatment via a Pittsburgh hospital until late 2018, when the doctors said they could no longer care for her worsening condition. Her case was transferred to a specialty hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. It was there that she began a series of tests to be added to the lung transplant wait list. Months later, in May 2019, she received her new lungs, but experienced a multitude of post-transplant complications. She has since been transferred multiple times between the hospital’s ICU and a patient-focused living facility, where she currently resides today.
Her husband, who is retired, moved to Cleveland to be alongside her in both the ICU room and the aforementioned living facility. However, due to COVID-19, he is no longer allowed to be in the hospital. He has since moved back to their Pennsylvania home, where he communicates with her daily.
This grant will enable him to cover many of the expenses incurred, particularly related to bedside meals and lodging, during their elongated out-of-state medical battle.
Family #3 – Warwick, RI – Recipients of a $1,000 Grant
The infant daughter of this Rhode Island family was born with dozens of congenital medical conditions, requiring her to undergo six hospitalizations since birth. Two admissions occurred during this quarter. Her most recent hospitalization is still ongoing.
The child’s mother quit her job to oversee her daughter’s healthcare. Meanwhile, her father continues to maintain the family’s finances. Not only has he driven over two hours each day to visit his daughter in a Boston hospital, he has also taken off several days of work to be with his daughter. There have been instances in which it appeared she would not make it through the day or night.
This grant helped the father cover his increased gasoline expenses and provided the mother with bedside meals while she spends her days with her daughter in the pediatric ICU.
Family #4 – Chicago, IL – Recipients of a $750 Grant
In March 2019, the husband and father of this Chicago family was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). He underwent various treatments, including chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant throughout the spring and summer. In November 2019, his AML returned. Shortly after Christmas, he underwent his second stem cell transplant before being admitted for inpatient care in early January 2020 where he remained for several weeks until, sadly, he passed away in the Chicago hospital.
This grant has been provided to his wife to reimburse her for bedside meals and parking expenses, covering the full amount she requested.
Keep Swimming Foundation would like to thank all of our wonderful donors for their continuous support, especially during the difficult time our country is facing, as a result of COVID-19. It is because of your generosity that we are able to continue helping families in their darkest hours.