A family from Port Colborne who lost their daughter, Kiesha Embrey have launched a fundraising campaign to give back to a charity close to them, as a way to honour her memory.
Tammy and Chris Embrey lost their daughter Keisha this past Christmas. Kiesha required around the clock care and she spent her entire life in and out of hospital. Tammy and Chris say she was defined by so much more than her disabilities.
Tammy said, “She never gave up. Every obstacle that was put in front of her, she always overcame it.”
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Tammy says her daughter continued to defy the odds and was a great fighter right until the end when she passed away early Christmas morning this past December at the Juravinski hospital.
Tammy says she continues to deal with the immeasurable grief of losing their only daughter while trying to adjust to the new normal of their life without Kiesha.
“You have to find yourself because my whole life was her, 24/7. I had time to myself don’t get me wrong, I had amazing support from my husband and family, and we had her aunt and private nurses and that, but it’s not the same, as now, there’s nothing like I have to learn how to have a life again,” Tammy said.
Part of that new life is trying to find a way to honour her daughter’s memory. She says in researching ways to memorialize Kiesha they were eventually put in touch with Ronald McDonald House South Central Ontario CEO Mario De Divitis who suggested sponsoring a room at the facility.
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Having spent months at time at the facility, it became an easy decision to give back to a place that meant so much to them right up to the very end of her life.
Chris said, “I went back to go take a shower. I didn’t even get in. My wife calls me 15 minutes later and says ‘you better come back up.’ It took me 10-15 minutes to get from the Ronald McDonald House up to Juravinski Hospital, where it would have took me an hour if I came home to get down there, I would have, I would have missed things.”
Tammy says she has made life long connections with other families who have also used the facility and while sponsorship of a room costs $5,000 per year, her goal is to raise $20,000 this year.
“We want Kiesha’s name to live on, that’s the big thing,” Tammy said.
The Embrey family and Ronald McDonald House have set up a fundraising page called “Kiesha’s Crusade” through their website, which you can find here.
They are also planning a fundraising benefit Oct. 19 at Branch 58 of the Royal Canadian Legion, with tickets available soon.
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