Help 11 Year Old Sam

* IMPORTANT: Funds raised through this site will be used to help offset Sam's medical expenses, including medications, treatments and in home nursing.  Funds may also be used to reimburse a donor should the donor have to take unpaid leave from work or incur medical expenses of their own due to the procedure.


About Sam...
Samantha Hall is a sweet 10 year old girl. She was diagnosed with a very rare kidney disease in April 2013 just around her birthday. At that time her kidney's were functioning at 70%. At this point in time they are only functioning at 8%. Both of her kidneys are diseased, and she is in need of a new kidney to survive. Her doctors are hoping to find her a "live" organ donor to proceed with a transplant in February 2014.

Sam is in the fifth grade. She is passionate about all animals, from snakes to elephants, and aspires to be a veterinarian when she is older. You will always see a smile on her face, no matter how she is feeling. She is very much an artist and always discovering new techniques. She also loves crafts.  Sam has one brother and a half sister.

Currently, Sam is in stage five kidney failure, which is considered end-stage. She is seeing doctors several times a month and at any given time she could be hospitalized again depending on the outcome of her visits. She is often tired and has a poor appetite from her Kidney Disease. While dialysis is the next step, the repercussions of the treatments are dangerous and will shorten her life. The doctors are now saying that a kidney transplant is her only chance to survive.


Her Condition...
Stage 5 Kidney Failure (Chronic Kidney Disease)
Having chronic kidney disease means that for some time your kidneys have not been working the way they should. Your kidneys have the important job of filtering your blood. They remove waste products and extra fluid and flush them from your body as urine. When your kidneys don't work right, wastes build up in your blood and make you sick. Chronic kidney disease may seem to have come on suddenly. But it has been happening bit by bit for many years as a result of damage to your kidneys. Each of your kidneys has about a million tiny filters, called nephrons. If nephrons are damaged, they stop working. For a while, healthy nephrons can take on the extra work. But if the damage continues, more and more nephrons shut down. After a certain point, the nephrons that are left cannot filter your blood well enough to keep you healthy.


Hero Found...
30 year old Raymond Fracasso from Torrington has been selected as the kidney donor for Sam.  Raymond is Sam's neighbor.  The surgery is currently scheduled for April.