Hi, I’m Jack’s dad. Some of you may know that Jack was diagnosed with Kidney Disease in 2020 and he’s been battling hard.
He’s turning 13 in December and he’s tried to have a normal childhood, but his disease has been getting worse.
In May of this year he got sicker. He was taken by helicopter to BC Children’s Hospital at 3:30 in the morning because his kidneys were being attacked by an infection. Lisa and I took turns spending 16 days at the hospital with him while he was on dialysis to get his blood to a safe level. I would stay while Lisa went home for a couple of days to be with Jack’s brothers and sister, and then we’d switch.
There are charities who help parents like us with some expenses, but the TAP program for ferries only covers his transportation and not our trips back and forth while he was still in the hospital. We racked up a few hundred dollars in ferry trips.
Meals, ferries, gas, extra expenses like driving to Victoria to see his specialist, special food for a renal diet, catheters, some meds and the nickels and dimes have added up to thousands. The credit card has taken a beating. We’re continuing to take Jack to Vancouver regularly while we wait to see where we are with a transplant. It will be a busy summer.
If you know my family, you’ll also know my mother died 5 weeks before Jack went to the hospital and we had some expenses with her passing as well. The hits just keep on coming.
Some friends and family have sent Lego kits to JackJack from all over the world and he LOVED it. Their thoughtful gifts made him feel special. Other people have asked “what can we do to help?”
A family friend suggested a fundraiser.
I hesitated because I felt I could just tighten my belt and keep things going, but it would help…a lot. The juice is running and I’m getting close to the limit. I don’t normally ask for help, but this is for the family.
Many hands make light work. If you find it in your heart to donate, 100% of your donation will be applied to the credit card we use for expenses and spent on the family as a whole.
Thank you for reading, and we hope for the best.
