[Sundaycommunity] (no subject)

[Catherine Cavanagh]

Hi Everyone
Thank you to the organizers of that very meaningful mass this morning.  I
asked for your prayers and ideas about what I could do next to raise funds
for a young Zimbabwean woman whose heart valves were damaged by rheumatic
fever.  Here is a more detailed description of the situation that you can
share with anyone you think could help.

Thandeka Pilime is from Zimbabwe and is about 26 years old.  Her mom
Senzeni and I were colleagues when I taught in Zimbabwe in the 80s and
90s.  She (Thandy) recently contracted Rheumatic fever which damaged her
heart valves.  Heart valve repair surgery isn't being done at all by anyone
in Zimbabwe at the moment (not sure if that's because of COVID or just
because Zimbabwe is still in such rough shape).  So they looked into other
options and India was most affordable by far ($10 000 US approximately, and
airfare about $6000 because Thandy needed a nurse with her).  This is the
point where I found out what was happening.  So we raised the money to fly
Thandy to Delhi for the surgery.  By this time she had had a stroke and her
kidneys were malfunctioning.  She survived the flight and was hospitalized
at the Max Hospital in New Delhi for four days before the surgery because
the hospital kept waiting for all the money to clear.  She then went
into cardiac arrest the night before the surgery and had a second cardiac
arrest on the operating table on Friday February 19th.  Unbelievably she
survived all of this.  Since then she has remained in ICU on a ventilator.
An MRI showed yesterday that there have been other minor strokes.
Nevertheless she woke up yesterday morning and is moving around so we are
hopeful that the worst is over. The problem is that of course she is still
in rough shape and will need hospital care for some time.  The ICU costs
about $1000/day (about $11 000 paid so far) and all of the funds raised
have been exhausted (about $26 000 from gofundme and churches). Now we're
wondering if there is an organization that can help, or if anyone has an
idea for a fundraiser we could run despite COVID.  My number and email can
be shared with anyone who you think might be able to help.  My number is
613-340-5282.  The gofundme address is
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-save-thandys-life.  I can also put anyone
who is interested in contact with Thandy's mother Senzeni, or the person
organizing the gofundme.  Thank you for any help.

Thank you all for anything you can do to spread the word, or any
suggestions you might have about covid era fundraising, and of course for
your prayers.

Peace,
Cathy
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