The family of a Connellsville woman launched a fundraising campaign to help cover the cost of a double organ transplant.
The family of Rebecca Rowan, 26, started the GoFundMe page following an incident while Rowan and her brother were hiking in Arizona.
Family members say the Fayette County siblings went on a day hike while vacationing on July 12 and accidentally wandered off the trail.
The pair ran out of water and became confused from heat exhaustion and dehydration.
Rowan fell unconscious before emergency responders could reach her and remains in critical condition at a medical center in Tuscon, where she is awaiting a liver and kidney transplant.
Rowan’s mother, Rhonda Rowan, said her daughter’s medical insurance lapsed earlier this year and the hospital cannot place her on the transplant list “without either insurance or cash on hand.”
“We are a working class family from Pennsylvania and, without Rebecca’s insurance, it would take a miracle to come up with the money to afford her transplant and save her life,” Rhonda Rowan wrote on the fundraising website. “Any donations would go directly toward paying for her transplants and associated medical costs. Every cent will be spent on her care and anything extra will go to a similar cause.”
The family has set a fundraising goal of $750,000 to help pay for the woman’s medical expenses. As of early Monday morning, nearly 1,100 people donated $63,100 toward the goal.
Rhonda Rowan said the family is “desperate” for help.
“Whatever amount you can give would be a godsend and, even if you can’t donate, just spreading the word would in itself be a blessing,” she wrote. “I beg you, as a mother with nowhere else to turn, please help me save my daughter.”
