VIDEO FEATURES:
Since January 2018, Keep Swimming Foundation has selected multiple families, on a quarterly basis, to receive a Keep Swimming Foundation grant.
Each of these families reached out to our foundation in search of financial aid when their loved one was critically ill and fighting for their life for an extended period of time at an accredited U.S. hospital.
Some of these families have graciously offered to share their stories with our cameras.
You may also click here to read a brief synopsis of every family the foundation has aided.
The Carroll Family:
In April 2018, Garren Carroll fell from a tall ladder while at work and suffered many lower-body bone injuries. He later underwent surgery and several months of rehabilitation. Complications from the surgeries led to an infection that spread throughout his body. Jessica Carroll, his daughter, was a nurse in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. When her father was ill, her life revolved around the care of others. When she was not working her typical twelve-hour shift, she was driving from Milwaukee to St. Louis so that she could oversee her father’s care as his health rapidly declined. Eventually, she switched jobs to a hospital one hour outside of St. Louis and relocated to the St. Louis region so that she could assure that her father was receiving the best possible healthcare. Sadly, Garren passed away as a result of the surgical complications. As Jessica shares in this video, the Keep Swimming Foundation grant she received enabled her to take work off so that she could be with her father in his final moments.
The David Family:
Keva and Matt David’s infant son was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect known as Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS), a condition in which the left side of the heart does not develop properly. Between January and late February 2019, their son remained in a Kansas City pediatric hospital where he underwent various procedures and monitoring to repair the left side of his heart.
During this stay, Keva took an extended leave of absence from her job and Matt significantly cut his work schedule back so that they could be with their son in the hospital around the clock each week.
Keep Swimming Foundation’s grant helped the family pay off a large chunk of the debt they took on while caring for their son in the hospital.
THE BROWN-FELL FAMILY:
Karen Brown and Jonathan Fell are a couple from Chicago whose first child was born with a congenital heart defect. Their child spent his entire life in the NICU nursery either preparing for or recovering from surgery. Sadly, in early March 2018, the child passed away in his mother’s arms. The family’s social worker commented on how the couple rarely left the hospital. If they did, it was to shower at a nearby hotel and grab a meal while their spouse stayed with their baby. The couple submitted the total hotel, parking and meal expenses they accrued throughout their child’s life and battle. The grant they received covered the full amount requested.
THE MCKEON FAMILY:
Janet and Kevin McKeon accrued nearly $10,000 of debt related to meals and lodging throughout Kevin’s long-term battle with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension, as well as end-stage kidney and heart failure.
In April 2018, the McKeon’s became one of the first four families to be selected for a Keep Swimming Foundation grant.
THE SANTIAGO FAMILy:
Keep Swimming Foundation is prepared to assist Spanish-speaking families through our wonderful team of volunteer translators and our three-step application process, which has been fully translated into Spanish.
In July 2018, Wanda Santiago and her family became the first Spanish-speaking family to utilize our translation services so that their story was properly submitted and evaluated by our Board of Directors.