Urgent Help for Eric Madsen's Funeral Costs

This is Becca, I’m representing myself and all my siblings (Rick, Mindy, Michael, Neils, me, Rachel, Peter, Sarah, Eric, Ellie, and Roxie) in a very difficult time.

Our Dad Eric Madsen has been fighting a good fight for a very long time. From a few fluke things to failed kidneys (that lead to Dialysis 3X a week) 7 years ago to in recent years many other surgeries including an open heart quintuple bypass surgery 2 years ago and a rough road ever since.

As of yesterday afternoon we had to rush him to the ER because his blood pressure was only 72 over 52. Once we got him to the ER he said his “heart felt tight”, once inside they immediately put him in a room. Soon after, they got him out and he had a cardiac arrest but came back on his own. The second time they started CPR and had to do it for 5min. The third time they did CPR for 20min… they even called Mom in and were calling it but realized by her feeling his arm that they might feel a pulse better through his fistula and found his pulse again. He had one more that lasted over 6 minutes but they got him back again.

Once he was stabilized and they got a balloon pump in they moved him to the ICU. They let us know that after all the scans and tests his heart is just too weak and we have no other options. The best we can do is hope we can keep him stable long enough for everyone to get here and say their goodbyes.

Last night he was stable and they encouraged us to go home. About 30 min after we got to our Mom’s, they called to say it took a turn for the worst and he has anywhere from minutes to maybe hours and we should come back.

We all rushed back, they let all 9 of us children that are here and our Mom in to be with him. As soon as we were all there he held stable… and kept being stable the entire night! At about 5am he actually opened his eyes! They thought he might be brain dead or at least very damaged from his 20 minutes of CPR but he actually opened his eyes! He was in and out and surprised everyone when he actually responded to questions! He would wiggle his toes, fingers, and even nod yes and no to questions as well as squeeze hands. When I told him “Rick (his oldest son) is on his way, just hold on a little longer.” his eyes got big and tears started at the corners and you could tell he heard us.

The doctor and nurses said it’s a miracle!

He held stable for over 24hrs, we all made it.

None of us have slept since yesterday morning but we are strong and so happy we all got to say “I love you” one last time.

Our Dad fought hard. He will now be the BEST Guardian Angel anyone could ever hope for.

Now for the part no one likes to think about.

Our Dad and Mom have next to no income with all the medical stuff over the last 7 years.

Not only do they have nothing to put towards the funeral but some of the siblings have literally skipped meals to afford being here because none of us have much “extra” to afford to get here, much less pitch in on funeral costs.

If we can’t raise the money some siblings will be in a tight spot with rent and other things because they made the trip to see Dad one last time as well as we will have to let the State of Colorado take care of our Fathers body rather then us getting to cremate him.

Every little bit will help. Funerals are not cheap and our Dad made our parents only income which means us children will be helping Mom after as well.

Even if you can’t donate please send prayers, good vibes and sharing couldn’t hurt either.

❤️❤️

And here are some of our last photos with him from playing games together this last weekend.