Help Us Help Esme as She Faces Multiple Surgeries

Lucy and Antonio, young parents of three, are facing an overwhelming health crisis. Their 4-year-old Esmé has 1p36 Deletion Syndrome and just had heart surgery on May 20th. She is now in hospital with an infection from her surgery. Esmé is having 2 more surgeries once she recovers from this one. Esmé's journey includes extended hospital stays and she’s the youngest Kiwi to have had pacemaker surgery.

In October 2023, Lucy had an unexpected health decline and Antonio had to sacrifice his career to help Lucy care for their disabled child, toddler, and infant son. Both unable to work, they started to seriously struggle financially. Lucy has been diagnosed with chronic pain and mobility issues but her condition remains undiagnosed due to a long waiting list for MRIs, leaving her in constant pain.

Antonio has to drive all over Auckland everyday to maintain family responsibilities plus their other children’s schedules while Lucy and Esmé are in hospital. The hospital doesn’t provide Lucy with food or meals, even though she can’t leave Esmé’s side. These things alone mean being in the hospital is costing them over $100 a day in just meals, petrol and hospital parking.

The Gabriels would like to thank everyone who donated to their first fundraiser. They were able to schedule Lucy’s surgery and MRI, pay for various GP and urgent care visits plus costs while in hospital with Esmé on several occasions.

Please help us support the Gabriels during this storm, every little bit helps.