Saving ZARA

The Zara Mcrae Benefit Fund was originally created to raise funds to cover baby Zara's impending heart transplantation costs in the US.  Since the fund and this website was first created in 2006, 2 years have almost passed and Zara is now almost 3 years old and has not yet required a transplant (touch wood!) and this site I hope can be utilised to give hope to other parents of babies with similar cardiomyopathy illnesses and raise awareness of the disease Cardiomyopathy in children, and the significant importance of organ donation.  To those of us families suffering with this dreadful disease, organ donation becomes something of a lifeline, probably not a lot of thought goes into it until you are faced with this so please take a moment to read about Zara's story.  To all those who have made contributions in the past we thank you from the bottom of our hearts, no matter how big or small your donation may have been, every little drop, every cent adds up.  We hope that Zara will live to experience many more birthdays before her heart transplant procedure becomes necessary.

March 2008 Zara age 2 1/2 yrs old

To all past donors from Australia who made a tax deductible donation please click and read this very important section regarding our tax deductible gift recipient status.

We have had to move house yet again (this will be our 5th move since Xmas 2004) as we have had some unfortunate things happen in New York city.  We had our car broken into, 4 seperate car hit and runs from the city street parking, thieves attempted a break-in into our home while we were home, and I (Zara's Mum) was mugged in broad daylight while out with all 3 children and had lost everything - mobile, car keys, drivers licenses, credit cards, cash, passport, Zara's meds.  The thieves also racked up thousands of dollars on credit within minutes of the crime on train ticket vending machines.  Those criminals are still out there and have not been caught.

So, we decided to move out of the city to suburban New Jersey where we are still within commuting distance to the hospital and Zannie's work but in a much safer child-friendly setting.  So now we are trying to settle in to our new home here and thankfully Zara has been well throughout and noone has been harmed.

April 2007 Zara age 1 1/2 yrs old

We have managed to acquire additional health insurance accepting pre-existing conditions and together with our international health insurance and your donations to date, we may soon have enough to cover the costs for the procedure and her pre and post transplant treatment.  Wonderful news!  We are all settling into our new lives here in NY and life sure is different but everything is a learning process. Zara is stable at present  with an ejection fraction of 18% and is almost 2 years old - wow!  Zara sees her Cardiologist (a leading transplant surgeon from the New York Presbytarian hospital) once every month, her Pediatrician every 2-3 weeks and has INR blood work done every 1-2 weeks at the hospital.  Winter has been very cold and we have not been able to leave the house unless necessary so we are looking forward to warmer temperatures soon - the kids are anxious to play in the park.  Thanks to all who have made donations and supported us in so many ways.