The Kramer Family 03/14/2010
 I'm collecting donations for a special family I recently met. While meeting with them for a story I'm working on, I realized their story is much more complex than one I could fit into a minute and a half package. Mary Kramer, a single mom, spends most of her days at Children's Hospital in St. Louis with her very ill daughter Emily, diagnosed with DiGeorge Syndrome at birth. Now nearing her ninth birthday, Emily and her mom have spent 800+ days in hospital rooms, having been Life Flighted, transported by ambulance and Missouri ICU'd 31 times. Every few days, Emily becomes stable enough to go home only for a few more days until she needs medical attention once more. Their last visit to Children's Hospital has left Mary and Emily living in the same hospital room for almost 6 weeks now. And to make matters worse, with a very weak immune system, Emily can't even leave her room. She gets to take "field trips" every now and then to have x-rays and surgeries, a number well over 50. Mary's other children have spent their days apart from her with extended family at their home near Jefferson City. That is until their house exploded last week when their clothes dryer sparked an explosion. While no one was critically hurt, the Kramers now have NOTHING and are still separated by all of Mary and Emily's trips to the hospital. This is truly a sad story, but one with much hope and grace. I'm blessed to have received word of the Kramer's story and want to help in any way possible. So whether it be clothes, appliances, toys, anything-please donate. Let me know if you can help! In Columbia? You can bring items to KOMU or to me personally. In STL? Contact me by email and we can agree on a place to meet. UPDATE 3/15: Mary emailed me today with even more news on Emily's health. It's not looking good. She turned worse the day after we met and will now need more inpatient time at Children's before her and Mary can go back to the rest of their family. I asked about the necessities they're in need of-Mary said gift cards would be the best way to help, since she has no real time frame of when her and her four kids will have a home again. For the latest story on the Kramers: http://tinyurl.com/ygrp7yq  CommentsLeave a Reply |
