Big Bay woman needs a heart transplant

I came across the following information this morning, and offered to help spread the word.  The following is a press release about a November 4th fund-raiser on behalf of am Upper Michigan woman who needs a heart transplant.   ABC 10 will bring you more about this, and I have invited other local media outlets to do the same.  I do not know Jeff or Judy Parrish, but I wanted to share their story and the effort underway to help them. …Cynthia

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Jeff Parrish has been a volunteer MFR for the Powell Township Ambulance Service for the past 25 years.  Jeff was awarded the Marquette County EMT of the year in 2003.  His wife is currently in desperate need of a heart transplant.  Her heart is currently working at only 10%.  This condition was caused by the medication she needed to take to survive Breast Cancer five years ago.  The need for this transplant is truly a matter of life and death.  Both Jeff & Judy have given a lot to their community, anyone who knows this couple knows that if this were anyone else they would be there to help in any way they could. Last year Jeff lost his health insurance, due to Judy’s past health issues, not having health insurance just isn’t an option.  For more than a year the Parrish’s have been paying for private insurance.

This condition has caused Judy to leave her job as a Dental Hygienist for the Dr. Bruce Miller practice in Marquette, where she was employed for 25 years.  Jeff had relocated to North Dakota to obtain employment, although not the perfect situation it worked. Then Judy was diagnosed with severe heart failure.  Jeff has since moved back to help take care of Judy.  While he looks for work, the bills continue to pile up, all this is causing more and more stress for Jeff as well as causing Judy to worry and put more stress on her heart.

Judy is in the process of completing the necessary requirements to be placed on the Heart Transplant list.  This includes everything from moving closer to Ann Arbor to a gamut of tests. She spends most of the day sleeping, as her heart just cannot provide her with any excess energy.

So we ask you for your help.  If we can collect $10,000 this will pay just the insurance premiums for one calendar year.  This does not even begin to pay any of the expenses they are encountering with all the copays, deductibles or the travel expenses.  Please take a moment to say a prayer and take advantage of one of the many ways that we have available to donate to help with this family’s fight of their lives.  Please take the time to visit their website at: Letskeepherheartbeating.org where a list of donating options are also available.  The members of the Powell Township Ambulance Service will be holding a benefit dinner for the Parrish Family on Sunday November 4, 2012 from 4 PM to 7 PM at the Fire/Ambulance Hall in Big Bay.  T-shirts showing support are available to order, they are $15 each.

An account  has been established at Wells Fargo:   3220 U.S. 41 West,  Marquette, MI 49855   Account #  8354897251

Donations or questions/comments can be sent to the Parrish Benefit coordinators Gary or Sandy Vargo at:   garysandyvargo@gmail.com