{"id":4,"date":"2021-08-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cota1.wpengine.com\/cotafordevonstransplant\/our-story\/"},"modified":"2021-08-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-08-09T00:00:00","slug":"our-story","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotafordevonstransplant\/our-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Devon Hunter Reynolds, born in Michigan on 10\/2\/1999, moved to Georgia in 2000. <\/span>She was a sweet baby that cried a lot. But, she grew into a happy, sassy toddler that liked to dress herself in creative outfits and steal her mom’s shoes and make up. She has always had her own unique style. <\/span><\/p>\n

G<\/span>rowing up, Devon loved<\/span> pets and fashion<\/span>. She started drawing and discovered a love for art. <\/span>After high school, she began working as a restaurant hostess to save money for a variety of life’s upcoming milestones.  But her dream was to go to the Savannah College of Art and Design. <\/span>In <\/span>June 2020<\/span>, Devon started cosmetology school.  It turns out that her eye and love for art translated to helping people feel their best and using hair and makeup as a great creative outlet. <\/span><\/p>\n

On Sunday, April <\/span>11, 2021<\/span>,<\/span> at around 1:30 p.m., Devon was involved in a head on collision. Luckily, it happened in front of someone’s house<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span> The home owner, Nikki,<\/span><\/span> called an ambulance<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>  The neighbor’s young adult sons<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span> ran to Devon’s side and talked with her until help arrived.<\/span><\/span> The seatbelt saved her life, but severed her <\/span>descending <\/span>aorta,<\/span> and her superior mesenteric artery as well as <\/span>severely damaged her liver<\/span>.<\/span>  She was covered with cuts and bruises but incredibly, no broken bones.  <\/span><\/p>\n

After arriving at the hospital, <\/span>s<\/span>he received 17 units of blood. The doctors informed the family there was a great likelihood she would not make it through the night and to start preparing for the worst.  They immediately sent her<\/span> into surgery.  The surgery entailed removing one of her jugulars and placing it where the aorta was. <\/span>To replace the superior mesenteric <\/span>artery<\/span>,<\/span> surgeons<\/span> took <\/span>a vein from her leg. She received 2 more units of blood making a total 19 units. <\/span>They decided to leave her liver alone and monitor it’s self healing.  <\/span>After<\/span> 24 hours they did a second surgery to see if the replaced arteries were able to supply blood to her organs. The descending aorta replacement worked perfectly but her small intestine and her colon were without blood for too long and had died. As a result<\/span>,<\/span> s<\/span>he ended up having to have <\/span>half of her<\/span> colon and <\/span>85% <\/span>of her small intesti<\/span>ne<\/span> removed, leaving her with underperforming organs that would only serve Devon in the short term.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Fortunately, because of Devon’s age and healthiness, she qualifies for a relatively new small intestine and colon transplant procedure. O<\/span>nly about 56 of these transplants are done a year with only <\/span>a few <\/span>facilities in the United States certified to perform them.  <\/span>She has chosen to go to Georgetown University in DC, as it is the best in the nation. <\/span>Devon will go on the transplant waiting list sometime near the Fall of 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n

The surgery lasts about 6 hours and is a relatively low-risk procedure. B<\/span>ut the real test will be during recovery to determine if <\/span>the organs are rejecting Devon’s body<\/span>.  <\/span>Devon will need to stay in the hospital in isolation for ~40 days, as she will be taking on the new immune system of the donor.  After the <\/span>in-hospital recovery<\/span>, Devon and her mom, Angela will remain in the D.C. area for up to 4 months for weekly biopsies to confirm Devon’s body is accepting the organs. <\/span><\/p>\n

Family and friends have recruited COTA to assist in the fundraising of $100,000 to support Devon and her family through this very difficult time.  Why COTA?<\/span><\/p>\n

COTA (Children’s Organ Transplant Association) helps children and young adults who need a life-saving transplant by providing fundraising assistance and family support.<\/span><\/p>\n

COTA is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization where 100% of the funds raised go back to Devon and her family.  There is a list of allowed expenses that funds go towards.  This includes, but is not limited to: medical bills, extended stay lodging costs, mileage to and from appointments, parking fees, toll fees, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n

COTA handles paying the medical bills or extended stay payments, etc. directly in order to minimize the additional administrative responsibilities of Angela and the family, although the family has the ultimate determination of where donated funds are needed the most.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) helps children and young adults who need a life-saving transplant by providing fundraising assistance and family support. COTA is the nation’s only fundraising organization solely dedicated to raising life-saving dollars in honor of transplant-needy children and young adults. 100% of each contribution made to COTA in honor of their patients helps meet transplant-related expenses. COTA’s services are free to transplant families, and gifts to COTA are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Devon Hunter Reynolds, born in Michigan on 10\/2\/1999, moved to Georgia in 2000. She was a sweet baby that cried a lot. But, she grew into a happy, sassy toddler that liked to dress herself in creative outfits and steal her mom’s shoes and make up. She has always had her own unique style.  Growing up, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotafordevonstransplant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotafordevonstransplant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotafordevonstransplant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotafordevonstransplant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotafordevonstransplant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotafordevonstransplant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotafordevonstransplant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}