Holly’s Fight Song – help Holly breathe again

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Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

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Imagine running 3 full marathons in a single day. How completely exhausted, drained and unable to function you would be. Now, imagine doing it with Cystic Fibrosis, a genetic disorder that mainly affects the lungs, resulting in long term infections, breathing restrictions, countless hospital visits and rehab, and with no known cure.

Now, image being a 17yo girl – beautiful, intelligent, strong, determined, meant to be in the most exciting vital time of your life and suddenly placed in an induced coma because this is YOUR body, YOUR reality, YOUR marathon.

For our amazing 17 year old niece Holly Jamieson, this is her fight right now. Instead of being in Grade 12 right now, Holly’s struggle almost turned fatal one month ago, when her body simply gave up on her.

Struck down with what started as a simple cold, Holly’s situation rapidly became life critical when her lungs and her body, just couldn’t keep up the fight. With literally hours to live, Holly was placed on a heart/lung bypass machine & her exhausted body placed into an induced coma. This was the only option to keep Holly alive long enough to work out the next steps.

The next day it was decided to move Holly by ambulance to the Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane for further assessment and possible treatment options. Holly was in the hands of the gods at this point and all we could do, as her family and friends, was hope and pray for a miracle.

Once she arrived in Brisbane, alive and still fighting, Holly was assessed as being viable for a double lung transplant and immediately placed as “urgent” on the Queensland Transplant register and later on, placed as urgent Nationally. Even though she was so weak and the Doctors were not confident she would make it through any surgery, we sat by and were stunned at the inner strength of this beautiful girl. Hour by hour she just kept up the fight.

The very next day, a miracle happened and Holly underwent a 6 hour surgery to replace her diseased lungs. An incredible human being gave the ultimate sacrifice by donating his organs so our Holly could have a second chance at life. To their family wherever you are, we can’t begin to tell you how overwhelmed and grateful we are for your loved ones ultimate gift to Holly.

ne week later, Holly was awake and breathing on her own with thanks to her new lungs. The road ahead is long and daunting but we are confident Holly’s perseverance will ensure she has a successful recovery.

However, whilst so much has happened in such a short time, this has also been 17 years of struggle and sacrifice for her close family. Just like Holly, her Mum Danyelle is a fighter and has rarely asked for help in all these years. But now, with 6 months of recovery back and forth to Brisbane ahead for them both, it is OUR turn to ask.

Some of the costs facing Danyelle in the months ahead are:

· Accommodation next to the hospital @ $120 per night. Holly and Danyelle have to stay a minimum of 2 nights/week (often more) next to the Prince Charles Hospital at Chermside in Brisbane. This will likely be for up to 6 months and is approximately 2 hours from her home.

· Fuel costs & public transport to and from the Gold Coast.

· Scripts for medication, some on and some not on the PBS. Holly will now have approximately an additional 10 medications to take daily. The average cost of this is currently $200 per week.

· Care for her other children, ongoing rent, bills, food in two places etc.

It is this love and on-hand support that will essentially aid Holly’s recovery and keep her home and breathing strong. And we desperately need your generosity to make it happen.

Lisa Souwer

7 years ago

$200

Jenny Haydon

7 years ago

$5

Jo Miano Gaddes

7 years ago

$25

Fran &Damo Griffin

7 years ago

$100

Karen Phillips

7 years ago

$20

Chantal Higgins

7 years ago

$50

Anonymous

7 years ago

$100

Taryn Jamieson

7 years ago

$100

Mike and Mel Anderson

7 years ago

$50

Juanita Birt

7 years ago

$25

Amanda Parsons

7 years ago

$10

Peta Souwer

7 years ago

$5

Mike and Mel Anderson

Keep fighting !

7 years ago

Amanda Parsons

Stay strong Holly xo

7 years ago

Peta Souwer

We love you Holly and DADA and will always help where we can xx

7 years ago

Peta Souwer

We love you Holly and DADA and will always help where we can xx

7 years ago

Holly Jamieson

Danyelle Jamieson