Fundraiser Set For Teen In Need Of Heart Transplant
Posted
Daniel Riordan-driordan@timesuniononline.com
Though Teal Stamper doesn't have the energy for activities most 18-year-olds do, she's a fighter.
She's been fighting since she was born.
As Stamper wrote in a letter, given to the Times-Union Friday, "I have been through six major heart surgeries. The first one when I was 4 days old and two more by the age of 3 years old."
She was born with Pulmonary Artesia and Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome. It is a condition where the right atrium and right ventricle are underdeveloped.
Stamper is in congestive heart failure, and Friday she was in surgery at Riley's Hospital for Children in Indianapolis to get a pacemaker replaced.
Her parents are Deejay and Teresa Stamper, Warsaw.
She is currently waiting for a matching donor for a heart transplant.
To help offset the costs Stamper's family has incurred, an all-you-can-eat fish fry will be held Friday at the Elks Lodge in Warsaw. Tickets are $7 and the fish fry will go from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Donations also will be accepted at the fish fry.
There will be music starting at 7 p.m. provided by disc jockey Charlie Miller.
Stamper's close-knit family has come together to help raise money for her.
Her grandmother Susie Stamper, along with grandparents Judy and Paul Hoffer, all live within a few houses of each other in Warsaw.
"She's a terrific kid, very loving," said Susie Stamper. "When she gets this heart she's going to be one of those kids you won't have to worry about."
Stamper attended Warsaw Community High School before she became too ill to go to school.
Stamper ends her letter by saying, "I am grateful for all of the prayers and help from my parents, family and friends. Now with many of your prayers, this will be the one surgery I will be happy to remember."
