3-Year-Old Girl with Rare Disease Raises More Than $400,000 to Prevent Family Eviction amid COVID Pandemic
GoFundMe Brandi Lusk
A 3-year-old girl with a rare illness who was initially given a month to live has received thousands of donations from strangers in an effort to keep her family home amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Jessica Lusk and Dylan Garcia — whose daughter Brandi was diagnosed with Carnitine AcylCarnitine Translocase Deficiency (CACT) at a young age, making her vulnerable to the novel COVID-19 virus — recently launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for bills and expenses as they face eviction from their home in Dallas.
According to the parents, they have made numerous sacrifices to reduce the risk of exposing Brandi to the coronavirus, including giving up their jobs to reduce the risk of bringing the COVID-19 virus home.
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Brandi's disorder requires around-the-clock care as her body cannot break down certain types of fats for energy, Garcia wrote on the GoFundMe's page.
The young girl, who was not expected to live longer than a month when she was diagnosed with CACT, also suffers from "severe brain damage, seizures, and a compromised immune system along with other complications" and is now on different medications to help her body function, according to the dad.
Due to her condition, the family is "in constant fear of losing her to covid19" should she contract the novel virus, the page stated.
"With Brandi's condition and weak immune system it's not only easier for her to get sick but it's also more fatal because her body would be to weak to fight off the virus if exposed," Garcia wrote.
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Though Medicaid helps pay for most of Brandi's medications and at-home nurse, Garcia said the family "owe thousands and will be evicted by January 1, 2021." He added that it "will be impossible for us to go to a homeless shelter" due to Brandi's condition.
"I've sold everything in my house pretty much to try to raise money, to pay one bill, to pay partial bills, to do anything that we can," Lusk told CNN.
The mom added that her children —including son Elijah, 6, and daughter Isabella, 5 — are "not going to have a Christmas" due to their situation.
"They have nothing," she said.
As of Wednesday, the family's GoFundMe page has raised more than $443,105 — surpassing their $20,000 goal.
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