Volunteers are hosting Sip & Art for a Heart
Rocklin, Calif, – April is Donate Life Month, but for Roseville resident Jason Crutchley, it’s another month spent hoping he will receive a second chance at life.
Crutchley was born with four congenital heart defects and required his first surgery at six weeks old. Six years later, he became the first child to have a Fontan procedure and was used as a case study for all other Fontan patients. The surgery was successful until he was 21, when he needed another reconstruction of his heart, which lasted another few years. By 28, he needed a pacemaker-a process he has undergone three times due to complications. In 2017, Crutchley was hospitalized for what he thought was pneumonia. Instead, he was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension, cirrhosis, and congestive heart failure. After all he has been through, doctors now say heart and liver transplants are critical to his survival.
A heart and liver transplant could cost more than $2,000,000. For the rest of his life, he will need follow-up care and anti-rejection medications. When he receives his transplant, Crutchley will have to relocate 151 miles to stay near the hospital as he recovers, incurring substantial expenses for travel, food and lodging for both him and his caretaker.
For fundraising support and guidance, Crutchley turned to the National Foundation for Transplants (NFT) for assistance with some of these financial burdens. NFT is a nonprofit organization that helps patients raise funds to pay for transplant-related expenses through their community-based fundraising program.
“This event sounds like such a great time,” said Kristen Ball, NFT fundraising consultant. “I know Jason wants nothing more than to be healthy and active again, and at NFT, we’re dedicated to helping him raise the funds he needs to afford his lifesaving treatment and care.”
On April 22, volunteers are hosting Sip & Art for a Heart from 4 p.m. till 7 p.m., at Art Bistro, 6848 Five Star Blvd., #6, in Rocklin. The cost to attend is $50, and the event is adults only. In addition to fine wine and painting, there will also be prize drawings and t-shirt sales. Proceeds will go to the National Foundation for Transplants in Crutchley’s honor to help with some of his transplant-related expenses.
If you’re unable to attend but wish to make a tax-deductible donation in honor of Crutchley, please send a contribution to the NFT California Transplant Fund, 5350 Poplar Ave., Suite 850, Memphis, TN 38119. Please be sure to write “in honor of Jason Crutchley” on the memo line. Secure donations also can be made online at www.transplants.org. Donors should click on “Find an NFT Patient” to locate Crutchley.
In addition, volunteers are also selling a variety of t-shirts in honor of Crutchley.
