Help Shawn Kimball Breathe Again

Help Shawn Kimball Breathe Again

My husband, Shawn Kimball, is facing a life-threatening battle with bronchiectasis.

Bronchiectasis is a condition where tissue damage causes the tubes in your lungs (airways) to widen and develop pouches, leading to frequent infections. For the past 5 years, Shawn has struggled with significant medical decline. Frequent illness, shortness of breath, limited mobility, and constant fatigue have become his new normal. He has been on oxygen 24/7 and needs pulmonary rehabilitation due to the overwhelming physical challenges. We have been trying to manage the illness under the care of a number of medical specialists, but his condition continues to deteriorate with only 30% lung function remaining. Most of our days are spent battling one infection or another. We have spent several weeks out of the last four months traveling to the Cleveland Clinic for advanced pulmonary care. Now, our only hope for a future together is a double lung transplant.

Shawn has dedicated his life to the service of others. He is a great husband and father to our two children, Shawn Jr. and Isabelle. Shawn volunteered for many years with the Granby Elementary Parent Teacher Group and assisted coaching the children’s youth baseball and basketball teams. Shawn is a dedicated public servant, starting his career serving individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. For the past six years, he has found his joy working at Mexico Academy and Central School District. He has worked tirelessly throughout our time together to better himself and to advance our family’s position. He is a proud man that has a hard time asking for help.

However, as you can imagine, this life-saving procedure comes with a significant financial burden to our family. The major costs expected are related to:

Emergency transport via medical helicopter to the Cleveland Clinic upon notification of viable donor lungs - expected one-time expense $11,500 - $13,000

Post-transplant hospitalization, medical care, durable medical equipment, and ongoing treatment and prescription drug costs - total expected expense $10,000

Travel and lodging expenses for the family to and from Cleveland in the first-year post-transplant - total expected expense $3,750 ($250 day for 15 days)

Lodging for family in Cleveland for 6-8 weeks post-transplant - total expected expense $9,000 ($5,000 if special accommodations are available)

Wage replacement for my income due to limited paid time off benefits and no paid family medical leave available through employer - total expected loss of gross income $5,400

These numbers are based on the best-case scenarios, where health insurance pays in full what they stated, and the housing expense doesn’t drastically increase from today's rates.

Every donation, regardless of the amount, brings us one step closer to affording this life-saving transplant.

At the end of the day, I know that Shawn just needs to enjoy the simple things again, activities like walking outside or watching the kids' sports games. I want him to see the kids graduate and I want to grow old with him by my side. I dream of the day that he can take a deep breath and live a somewhat normal life. Your generosity will give us the gift of hope and the chance to live a fuller life free of worry about the overwhelming financial burden.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your compassion, support, and prayers.

Sincerely,

Kayla Kimball