Saving a fireman's House

 

All he has ever wanted was to be a fireman, it started as a small child with dressing up for Halloween, then volunteering at the firehouse the moment he could at 18, he then went to college and got a degree in fire science technology and in 2013 was sworn in as a Cranford NJ fireman. It is rare to live your dream but he got to do that everyday. That dream came to a crashing halt in July of 2021 when after a particularly difficult emergency call with a child Rob began to experience heart palpitations and within a week was in afib.

 

Over the next 2 months Rob went into cardiogenic shock, heart failure and kidney failure. He has spent 7 weeks in the hospital receiving 9 cardiverts, 1 failed cardic ablation in which he had to revived 3 times, an impella device implanted, multiple dialysis ports, and 12 different IV's. Each day I was afraid to walk back into his CCU room fearing what piece of bad news the medical team would share. I kept wondering would we have a future together, there were moments when no one could answer that for me.

 

In early September, he finally came home. He had to wear a life vest 24/7 and had a pic line, couldn't use the stairs, and wasn't allowed to shower unsupervised, but he was home and that was all that mattered. Since then, he has continued to improve. I am grateful for every moment we are together as a family with our daughter. But our future will be different then the one we planned.

 

Rob's heart damage is permanent, and he will never be a fireman again, it is likely he won't work again. While he has stabilized, his heart only works at 15% normal capacity and less oxygen is impairing his memory, physical ability and stamina. While he will receive a pension it will only be 40% (this does not include healthcare and he is still looking at having a pace maker/ defibrillator implanted and possible heart transplant in the future)and the application and determination process takes months were there is no income.

 

I have always been the person who donates to go fund me pages not asked for help, but we have cut our expenses, and I am back to work full time but we are still in danger of losing our home. We looked at moving to an apartment but in NJ we would spend more on the rent than our current mortgage payment. If we could pay off our mortgage we would be able to meet our expenses, pay for child care, food, utilities, and medical bills and stay in our home. So I am asking if you can give any amount we would be so grateful.