Community Rallies to Aid Local Family in Need

They say it takes a village to raise a child, but in the case of one local woman, it takes a village to help someone through a difficult time.

On July 5, Mandie Albright, 32, gave birth to her third child, Emmett. Mandie and Emmett were healthy and returned home. A couple days later, on July 7, Mandie’s health took a turn for the worse. She became the victim of Spontaneous Aortic Dissection, which led to her having a massive heart attack. She was taken to Jefferson Hospital, where she was placed on an ECMO machine in the Cardiac Care Unit, which allowed her lungs and heart to rest while she was in a medically induced coma.

After the doctors saw that the device helped her, they opted to perform an open heart surgery to implant a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD), which is a device that will perform the work of her heart’s left ventricle. Mandie will also need this device on the right side of her heart, and she was also placed on the waiting list for a heart transplant.

“The wait list is long and the LVAD doesn’t make her top priority,” said Rick Albright, Jr., Mandie’s husband.

In terms of prognosis, the road for Mandie is long. She just returned home, and her kids are back with her and Rick. Mandie has been disconnected from all of the devices that she was hooked to except for the LVAD, which she carries with her everywhere.

“There is no short term,” Rick said. “[The] long term is the LVAD can last as long as seven to ten years running her heart. There is only a small percent that her heart will heal itself since the aortic dissection was so severe.”  

However, Mandie is taking things one day at a time.

“She is very grateful to be alive, even though her lifestyle has been changed drastically,” said Amber Dizenzo, who is Mandie’s sister-in-law. “Her recovery is day by day.”

The Community Rises to the Challenge

Family members and friends of the family stepped up to help the Albright family. After the initial incident, the children went to stay with family members, including the Dizenzo’s. Members of the community have also donated items such as diapers, formula and clothes to help the kids.

“The current needs for the family are cash flow, so that they are able to pay bills [such as] electric, doctors and hospital bills,” Dizenzo said. “Since immediate needs have been met, we are looking long term for this assistance financially since Rick is still out of work.”

To help meet the family’s financial needs, there have been a wide variety of fundraisers, including Lularoe and bracelets. Extended family members also set up a GoFundMe page titled “Mending Mandie,” and in November, Applebee’s will be hosting a pancake breakfast to help raise money to help Mandie and her family.

The next big fundraiser is coming up on Sept. 15, as Hattricks in Hatfield is hosting a “Mending Mandie Darts Tournament and Beef and Beer.” The darts tournament starts at 1 p.m. with sign-ups beginning at 11 a.m. Breakfast and lunch will be available, and the beef and beer will begin at 5 p.m.

The event was started by Ashley and Stephen Keller, who knew of previous benefits held at Hattricks. Ashley had initially suggested just doing a beef and beer, but said that Jaime January, the manager of Hattricks, mentioned including a darts tournament as well.

“We have benefits here quite often for local families,” said January. “I don’t know Mandie personally, but I couldn’t imagine being in her situation and her family dealing with the situation. I hope that if something like that ever happens to me, the community would come together to do the same.”

Ticket information for the event is available on the Facebook event. The tickets are $25 and include the food. All of the money raised will go directly to Mandie and her family. There will also be raffle baskets from various businesses and sports teams and Mending Mandie bracelets for sale on the day of the event.

“It has been a blessing to have so many people supporting us through this,” said Rick. “We are truly grateful for it all.”