Keri's Heart

Honoring Keri’s Heart

Thanksgiving dinner should never lead to a Thanksgiving service for the life of a loved one but that's exactly what happened to us this year.

Carissa “Keri” Martin née Fletcher always had the hugest heart. The second youngest of 5 girls, she was somehow still the mother hen who always managed to gather people together. This was the case (as usual) when her family gathered for what should have been just another warm and wonderful occasion. Instead, we traded appetizers for an ambulance ride that changed our lives forever.

At the start of November 2022, Keri was rushed to the Emergency Room where we discovered that the heart that had changed so many lives for the better was somehow underperforming. Although the hospital ran tests and wrote reports, Keri knew only two things: the doctors weren't exactly sure what was happening and that apart from a prescription, she was leaving the hospital with very little knowledge and a very big bill. "Come back in 3 months," they said.

She didn't even survive one.

On November 24, when Americans everywhere were preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving Day, Keri collapsed.

When the paramedics arrived, they administered no life-saving measures and offered no medical interventions. They carried her away, leaving everyone overwhelmed and scared. Hours later, still not conscious, our beloved Keri was airlifted to a specialist hospital to try to reverse or repair the damage to her struggling heart, along with her now oxygen-deprived brain.

Anyone who knows Keri knows that our champion held on for days, fighting valiantly and giving small signs that we held on to as proof of life. Unfortunately, despite our tears and our prayers, test after test confirmed our worst fears: her body had been much more damaged than any of us understood and was slowly surrendering. While her heart was struggling to regain its strength, her brain could not recover from the catastrophic oxygen deprivation. Her brain lost the battle in less time than we could have prepared for. Her heart and the rest of her body followed suit.

Keri slipped away from us on Friday, December 2, 2022.

The brightest light, who was determined to become a teacher from a young age, Keri pursued and earned multiple degrees in her calling, teaching at the elementary level for her entire career. It was a natural fit for a friend who was a counselor, encourager, cheerleader and an unconditional (yet brutally honest) support system for anyone she considered HERS.

Keri created a community everywhere she went with her heart, humor and faith. While she was alive, her heartbeat for serving, teaching and loving us all. Now, it’s our turn to take care of her and her family. Every gift will help us lift a little of the pain and financial pressure and surround her loved ones with our “Keri community”.

Carissa was born into a family of already 3 girls, she was the 4th. Carissa and her sisters lost their dad, at an early age when he was just 31, due to a work accident. Leaving their mom, with a total of 5 girls, between the ages of 6 years - 12 weeks old. Three years later, they lost their baby sister to cancer. Death, no matter the circumstance, imagine the pain of having to endure another premature death in their family. Leaving her heart, her children, her soon-to-be 18-year-old daughter, her 4-year-old son and her husband of 18 years. She celebrated her 40th birthday in May of 2022 and still had her 4-0 birthday balloons up at the time of her passing, hoping to celebrate the entire year. She has spent the last 15+ years doing what she has dreamed of since she was a child teaching in our public school system.

As you can imagine this abrupt and enormous loss has impacted her family beyond grief. Nothing will bring back the wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin or friend we all loved so deeply. As her family figures out how to navigate life without her, it is our hope that our gifts and togetherness can pay her love forward to alleviate some of the changes her absence creates in the family unit as they process this unfathomable pain and learn how to live life without her. Your contributions will help cover some of the uncovered costs in her biggest fight.

Thank you for your prayers and love sent our way, our family is beyond grateful for the expressions of kindness shown during this difficult time.

YOU can help us honor Keri’s heart and celebrate her life.

1) GIVE whatever you can. No donation is too small (tax-deductible)

2) SHARE on social media (#KerisHeart)

3) EMAIL this page - gofundme.com/kerisheart- to your family + friends.