Brian McNeill

Brian’s course of illness has been indescribable. He was hospitalized for 38 days in September and October, after it was discovered he had an infection in his heart. During  his hospital stay, the infection caused a heart attack. The treatment for the heart attack led to a stroke. Two weeks after these events, Brian had surgery to repair his heart, because it was ravaged by infection. He had an aortic valve replacement, an aortic root replacement, and a bypass. The shock of the extensive surgery caused his heart to stop as the surgery was wrapping up. He spent four days on sophisticated life support called ECMO, and another two weeks in the hospital. Finally he was well enough to go home on October 25th.
Brian was working hard at recovery and making great progress when his heart stopped at home on November 10th. After 45 minutes of CPR, his heart started beating again, and he was airlifted from Salida to University Hospital in Denver. He remains in the Cardiothoracic ICU, where he being treated for damage to his heart and kidneys. There was profound concern about neurological damage as well, and Brian has exceeded expectations related to this.
We have both been out of work for over two months, and will be for the foreseeable future. All of this results in a financial strain, for which we are humbly asking help.
We are so incredibly grateful for our village. The love sent our way; the messages of support. These keep us going on the hard days. And lift us up every day.
We remain grateful and hopeful.
Brian and Kelsey