Keep Swimming Foundation’s Board of Directors recently met to discuss the applications and select the recipients from our January 2021 grant cycle. Two families were selected to receive a combined $3,250 in financial aid.
These are their stories:
Family #1 – Pahrump, NV – Recipients of a $3,000 Grant:
A couple from Nevada moved their life to northern California after receiving word that the husband’s wait for a lifesaving lung transplant was over. His need for a lung transplant was a result of a genetic disease called Alpha 1 Deficiency, which causes lung-protecting proteins (AAT) from reaching the lungs after they are produced in the liver. He received a single transplant in February 2021. While recovering, he was diagnosed with lung cancer in his native lung and was unable to return home due to the sensitive nature of his post-transplant care and his new need for cancer treatment. He remained hospitalized throughout all of 2020. Despite COVID-19 lockdowns, his wife was able to remain at his bedside. However, she faced thousands of dollars in housing and meal expenses, causing the couple to spend through their life savings and compile additional credit card debt.
Recently, the couple learned that his condition was terminal and he was soon to be airlifted to a step-down center near their hometown, where he will receive hospice care.
This Keep Swimming Foundation grant will help the wife pay down a large percentage of her remaining credit card balance, which was a direct result of her need for housing.
Family #2 – Chicago, IL – Recipients of a $250 Grant:
The teenage daughter of a Chicago area family was hospitalized in November 2020, when her skin began to blister as a result of Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa, a rare skin disease she has been battling since childhood. Due to her need for several rounds of bandages each day (and her desire to have her parents assist in the bandaging process) both parents have been with their daughter daily in a pediatric hospital.
The family submitted a small amount of expenses requesting assistance with bedside meals.
The patient remains hospitalized and may soon be transferred to a burn unit for specialized wound care.
This grant covers the full value of the applicant’s request.
Keep Swimming Foundation is only able to provide financial relief to the families of critically ill patients because of the generous donations from our wonderful supporters.
Our Board of Directors will be meeting in the coming days to select another group of hospitalized families whom we will aid through the support of our generous donors!
Please donate today to help us help families next month!