Kevin McCracken's heart transplant

Dear family, friends, and friends of friends,

I am posting this fundraiser to ask for help for our dear friend, brother, pseudo-grandfather, Kevin McCracken, as he walks through this journey of receiving a heart transplant. Kevin has lived with congestive heart failure and cardiomyopathy over the past 20 years or so, which has included open-heart surgery and a multitude of other procedures, all of which have kept him alive. Now Kevin must take the big leap to a full heart transplant, which brings so many uncertainties for his life.

On September 26, Kevin will check into Total Heart Center located in Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, to have a balloon pump connected to his heart, which will require him to remain in the hospital hooked to a machine that pumps the balloon until such time as a heart becomes available. He has a specific blood type, which makes finding a match much more complicated. His surgeons tell us that the wait could be a very long time, even as long as a year. We cannot begin to think of all of the “what ifs”, so let’s pray for Kevin and know that our Lord will answer our prayers.

Committing to this procedure has been a very difficult decision for Kevin. And having already been unable to work full-time for several months, the financial strains are beginning to become overwhelming. Now, he is facing a long hospitalization for this procedure, and then transplant, and then the year(s) of follow up doctor visits and expensive post-operative drug therapy, all without earning an income. He is very anxious about the financial burdens he is facing. Yes, he has medical insurance that should cover a large portion of the core medical bills, but insurance will not cover copays, deductibles, his daily living expenses, bills, taxes, insurance premiums, care for Buster (his dog), just to name a few. We can help him with this part, so he can focus on the journey ahead.

As so many of us know, Kevin is a devoted friend to everyone that he knows. He means the world to two young ladies, Kya and Autumn, who love him as their grandfather. Kevin is a true man of God and lives his life with gratitude by serving at Journey Church faithfully each week. He is an avid Harley rider and a local celebrity bike mechanic that is known fondly in the biker community as Unkle Cracker. He is someone that the community can count on at any hour of need. Now he needs us.

Thank you in advance for your prayers and generosity. Any donation, small or large, will be appreciated more than words can express. And many thanks to everyone who shares this post with family, friends, and extended network circles. Everything we do will help support Kevin over the next year or so and allow him to remain focused on his recovery.