Pam Razzano understands the helplessness, fear and sleepless nights that come from having a severely ill child. Her son Emilio was born with only half a heart and he had to be sent to Alberta to receive the life-saving surgeries he needed.Emilio is well on the way to recovery, but in a sad example of life repeating itself, Razzano's best friend is now going through the same torment her family experienced three years ago.
"Mara Williams, her little one, has to go to Alberta to have a liver transplant," said Razzano.
Born in March, Williams' son, Aidan Phillips, was diagnosed with a malfunctioning liver. His doctors say his best hope for survival is a liver transplant. For this he will have to fly to Edmonton and undergo surgery at the Stollery Children's Hospital, the same facility where Emilio received his life-saving operations.
"She's at the hospital all the time," said Razzano. "It's so hard on a family."
When Emilio was in the hospital, the community rallied behind his family with financial support and now Razzano hopes she can help raise that same level of support for Phillips.
"It's karma," said Razzano of trying to help the Williams family. "For us it meant so much. It meant that we didn't have to worry about things like how are we going to pay for meals or how are we going to get to the hospital. We could just focus on our son."
To give Aidan the same level of support Emilio received, Razzano is setting up a charitable account in the family's name."I'll be setting up an account at the Royal Bank so that people can make donations to them," she said. "We're also planning on doing some fundraisers. We'll likely have a pancake breakfast in the next few weeks."
According to Razzano, Aidan will be transported to Alberta as soon as he is physically stable enough to make the trip. The infant is currently hooked up to a series of feeding tubes at B.C. Children's Hospital.
"Right now they're trying to beef him up," said Razzano. "It's so hard to go through this with your child. If people think that they can help out I would ask that they go by the Royal Bank, and help Mara and her son."
