Help Brandi get a portable oxygen concentrator

A few words from Brandi

Hello family, friends, and soon-to-be friends,

For those of you who don’t know me personally, my name is Brandi Hawkins, and I’m a 29-year-old young woman living with Muscular Dystrophy. Just briefly, Muscular Dystrophy is a group of diseases that cause progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass. In Muscular Dystrophy, abnormal genes (mutations) interfere with the production of proteins needed to form healthy muscles. Despite my physical appearance, I’ve always been a fun-loving, outgoing individual with a strong personality. I try not to let my condition effect my outlook on life. Being diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy at the age of two has presented many challenges and difficulties over the years. I’ve had near-death experiences, numerous hospital stays, and multiple surgeries, all in my short 29 years of life.

In March of 2019, my life changed forever when I had to have a tracheostomy- a major surgery performed to more easily and safely deliver oxygen to my lungs. Months prior to the tracheostomy, as a result of my weakened breathing muscles, my right lung collapsed on several different occasions prompting doctors to perform pleurodesis- a procedure that sticks the lung to the chest wall, removing the space between the lung and the chest wall, so that fluid or air no longer builds up between the layers. The tracheostomy was ultimately done in the event that I would lose vital lung capacity.

It has been almost three years since my surgery, and I feel better than ever. All thanks to God, as well as my family and friends, for all the support they have shown me. Being that my health has been stable these last few years, my family wants to plan a family vacation. Currently, I ‘am vent dependent and rely on oxygen 24/7. In order for me to travel, I would need to purchase my own portable oxygen concentrator, which is very costly. A portable oxygen concentrator will provide me with the constant oxygen support necessary to live but also allow me to move about without being confined to the massive, stationary oxygen concentrator that only provides oxygen tank usage for up to three hours at a time.

In order to travel, I need a portable oxygen concentrator, so here’s where I need the help of you kind individuals. The most suitable portable concentrator for my condition costs roughly $4,000, not including taxes and other fees. I would greatly appreciate anything you can give to help me with this life-supporting purchase, so that my family and I can take the vacation we’ve always wanted. Thank you in advance for all the love and support!