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Yard sale, cookout in honor of transplant patient

Adelia Harris, 21, needs a heart transplant to survive. In April, she was diagnosed with heart failure and learned her heart was functioning like the heart of a 90-year-old woman. Doctors began aggressive treatments in hopes of stabilizing her condition, but her heart was already severely damaged.

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Publish Date: 09:41AM 01/15/10

In October, Harris received a heart pump to sustain her life while she awaits the transplant. A heart transplant costs approximately $775,000, and that’s only the beginning. Even with health coverage, Harris faces significant expenses related to her transplant. She will need follow-up care and anti-rejection medications for the rest of her life. These medications can cost as much as $5,000 a month, and they are as critical to her survival as the transplant itself. To overcome these financial challenges, Harris turned to the National Foundation for Transplants (NFT) for assistance. NFT is a nonprofit organization that helps transplant patients raise funds to pay for medical expenses. Volunteers are planning a yard sale and cookout Saturday, Jan. 30 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot in front of Kimbrell’s Furniture and behind Bank of America, 7525 Garners Ferry Rd. Household items, clothing and cookbooks will be available for purchase, and volunteers will sell hotdogs, hamburgers, fish, fries and beverages to help offset Harris’ expenses. Admission is free, but donations are encouraged. For more information or to donate items for the sale, please contact Ernestine Reese at 803-206-8617 or ernier48@yahoo.com. To make donations in honor of Harris, please visit www.transplants.org and click on “patients we help” to search for her. If you prefer to mail your contribution, please send your gift to the NFT South Carolina Heart Fund, 5350 Poplar Avenue, Suite 430, Memphis, TN 38119. Be sure to write “in honor of Adelia Harris” in the subject line. About NFT NFT is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization based in Memphis, Tenn. that has been helping transplant patients overcome financial obstacles since 1983. NFT provides fundraising expertise and advocacy to transplant patients by organizing fundraising campaigns in the patients’ own communities. In the past 26 years, NFT’s fundraising campaigns have generated nearly $56 million to assist patients. NFT currently assists more than 1,000 transplant candidates and recipients nationwide. For more information about NFT, please call 800-489-3863 or visit www.transplants.org.