Support For Sarah, Cricket, and the Burnetts
Donation protected
Hi everyone we are organizing this fundraiser to help benefit Sarah Burnett during a difficult season of her life. For all who know Sarah, she’s used to being the “helper”, not the person being helped- fundraising for local charities to celebrate the holidays/her own birthday, always willing to lend a hand, a skill set, or her time to benefit others, and just generally being a good human. 2024 has gotten off to a rocky start with family health issues and a beloved ailing pet so Sarah has allowed us to organize this fundraiser to help ease the financial burdens of some of these recent hardships.
Sarah‘s dad is currently in a battle with recurrent squamous cell carcinoma cancer now being treated down at the Mayo Clinic in Florida. Sarah recently took a trip down in January to attend his doctor visits and put a plan for treatment in place. Her dad will require extensive surgery in February 2024 including a neck and jaw resection and free flap reconstruction for parts of his neck and face. He has a long road to recovery ahead of him with the surgery and subsequent treatments. Due to the distance, Sarah will not be able to be down there all the time but she will be going down and back as much as possible to help her family.
Back home in Maryland. Sarah still has her regular obligations, working full-time and taking care of her two amazing cats. Unfortunately one of her cats, Cricket, has also been having ongoing health issues culminating in an abdominal obstruction requiring emergency vet surgery on January 24, 2024. The estimated cost for this procedure and days of hospitalization afterwards was around $9,000- Cricket is still hospitalized and the vet bills are mounting. To anyone who knows the comfort a pet can bring, and with the vet’s assurance that the surgery will hopefully re-establish a good quality of life for Cricket, Sarah has been pursuing all treatment options hoping to save Cricket’s life.
Any funds collected will be allocated towards Cricket’s vet bill and travel expenses for Sarah’s trip(s) to Florida in the upcoming months. Donations of any amount are greatly appreciated!! Please consider sharing this fundraiser with your social networks as you are able.
Update 1/28 From Sarah: just after midnight this morning I said goodbye to sweet Cricket. Her blood pressure dropped so low and there were no signs of intestinal motility returning. Continued hospitalization at a higher level would have been for me, not her. She went quickly and peacefully in that same room, lying on my belly and with our dear friend, Steff, in the room. As far as I know, she was universally loved, despite her light tortitude and her aversion to hands near her face. I hope I can remember all the little details of her forever. I’ve been missing her already these last many days. I don’t know how to get up without her coming in for a snuggle at the sound of my first stir. Someone I loved a long time ago wrote a poem, most of which is lost on a server somewhere never to resurface, but I’ve always remembered the first line: “I want to feel the weight of you on me” - Cricket got to be so small and light by the end, but the the feeling of her delicate paws alighting my hip as I lay on my side will stick with me just the same as the warmth of her little belly on my chest as we said final goodbyes on a cramped little vinyl couch - the best approximation I could create of our nightly routine. I have hundreds of selfies, double chin be damned, of the joy I experienced with the weight of her little kitty love on my chest. Rest easy, Chickey, I’ll see you on the other side. - This financial support will help me recover form her surgery and hospitalization as I hope to travel as much as possible this year to be with my family in Florida. My Dad’s surgery is in just a few days and the next round of anxiety is already brewing. Thank you for all the care and support, family, friends and acquaintances. I never think too much of it when I contribute to something like this, but the way it adds up - it adds real peace to unimaginable stress. And it’s not just the dollars; it’s the hearts and the kind words and the shared experience of this life - the joys and the nightmares. Thank you for being with me.
Sarah‘s dad is currently in a battle with recurrent squamous cell carcinoma cancer now being treated down at the Mayo Clinic in Florida. Sarah recently took a trip down in January to attend his doctor visits and put a plan for treatment in place. Her dad will require extensive surgery in February 2024 including a neck and jaw resection and free flap reconstruction for parts of his neck and face. He has a long road to recovery ahead of him with the surgery and subsequent treatments. Due to the distance, Sarah will not be able to be down there all the time but she will be going down and back as much as possible to help her family.
Back home in Maryland. Sarah still has her regular obligations, working full-time and taking care of her two amazing cats. Unfortunately one of her cats, Cricket, has also been having ongoing health issues culminating in an abdominal obstruction requiring emergency vet surgery on January 24, 2024. The estimated cost for this procedure and days of hospitalization afterwards was around $9,000- Cricket is still hospitalized and the vet bills are mounting. To anyone who knows the comfort a pet can bring, and with the vet’s assurance that the surgery will hopefully re-establish a good quality of life for Cricket, Sarah has been pursuing all treatment options hoping to save Cricket’s life.
Any funds collected will be allocated towards Cricket’s vet bill and travel expenses for Sarah’s trip(s) to Florida in the upcoming months. Donations of any amount are greatly appreciated!! Please consider sharing this fundraiser with your social networks as you are able.
Update 1/28 From Sarah: just after midnight this morning I said goodbye to sweet Cricket. Her blood pressure dropped so low and there were no signs of intestinal motility returning. Continued hospitalization at a higher level would have been for me, not her. She went quickly and peacefully in that same room, lying on my belly and with our dear friend, Steff, in the room. As far as I know, she was universally loved, despite her light tortitude and her aversion to hands near her face. I hope I can remember all the little details of her forever. I’ve been missing her already these last many days. I don’t know how to get up without her coming in for a snuggle at the sound of my first stir. Someone I loved a long time ago wrote a poem, most of which is lost on a server somewhere never to resurface, but I’ve always remembered the first line: “I want to feel the weight of you on me” - Cricket got to be so small and light by the end, but the the feeling of her delicate paws alighting my hip as I lay on my side will stick with me just the same as the warmth of her little belly on my chest as we said final goodbyes on a cramped little vinyl couch - the best approximation I could create of our nightly routine. I have hundreds of selfies, double chin be damned, of the joy I experienced with the weight of her little kitty love on my chest. Rest easy, Chickey, I’ll see you on the other side. - This financial support will help me recover form her surgery and hospitalization as I hope to travel as much as possible this year to be with my family in Florida. My Dad’s surgery is in just a few days and the next round of anxiety is already brewing. Thank you for all the care and support, family, friends and acquaintances. I never think too much of it when I contribute to something like this, but the way it adds up - it adds real peace to unimaginable stress. And it’s not just the dollars; it’s the hearts and the kind words and the shared experience of this life - the joys and the nightmares. Thank you for being with me.
Fundraising team: Team fundraiser (3)
Karen Hansch
Organizer
Philadelphia, PA
Sarah Burnett
Beneficiary
Katie Sayago
Team member