Help and Love for the McBean Family

Hi, I'm Melissa Foster and I am fundraising for Heather and Renal McBean and their 5 children during a difficult time in their lives. Here is some information about what they are going through...

Renal contracted COVID back in June 2021 and was hospitalized for 8 days. During his unpleasant stay in the hospital in full isolation, he was experiencing double vision. This was later determined to be a result of having a stroke, likely a side-effect from COVID. His double vision lasted for 2 months. Doctors needed to determine what led to the stroke, so they ran several tests on Renal. This is when they determined he had a hole in his heart. Doctors were unsure if the hole was a result of COVID or if it had been there prior to contracting the virus. As if this wasn't scary enough, they also spotted what looked to be a tumor below his heart. Open-heart surgery was scheduled for the end of October to repair the valve and get a closer look at the believed tumor. During the surgery, it was determined that Renal didn't have a tumor, but instead, a parachute-like part that hangs from the heart had ruptured, leaking fluid within. He very easily could have died from this and it left his doctors shocked. After 8 days of being in the hospital following his open-heart surgery, Renal had a pacemaker inserted due to complications from the surgery. He was in the hospital for a total of 10 days and will be out of work for about 7 weeks as long as his recovery goes as planned, which is one week longer than they originally planned for.

Renal is a former Kyrene School District bus driver. He and Heather and their 5 children were renting a home in Ahwatukee during the time when he got COVID. Due to rising housing prices this past summer, the family was forced to move away from their beloved Ahwatukee home, and purchased a home in Coolidge. As a result, Renal switched districts because he needed to be able to rest in between shifts as he was still recovering from COVID and his stroke. Because he had not worked for the Coolidge School District for a year, he did not qualify for FMLA and was eventually laid off due to his medical condition. Heather, who works as an Instructional Assistant in Kyrene and took 2 weeks off to be there for Renal during his surgery and recovery, is the sole bread-winner for their family of 7 while Renal is out of work. On top of all this, Heather is completing her degree at ASU for teaching and has been continuing with her classes all semester during this scary and stressful time in their lives. She will be student teaching in January at Esperanza Elementary in a special education classroom.

Please consider donating to this wonderful family who could use some support right now. They do not have family members that live here to lean on so I'm hoping we can show them some love to help them get through this difficult time. Any amount is greatly appreciated! I would love to see them be able to heal, finish school, support their children, and enjoy their family without the added stress that medical bills can so easily bring. Thank you in advance for considering!