CHANDLER, Ariz. — A young woman from Chandler in critical need of medical care across the country arrived safely at the Cleveland Clinic after raising enough funds to book the air ambulance she needed to get there.
She will still need to get home, though.
An Arizona yoga studio, Flo Yoga and Cycle, saw our story on Ava and started a fundraiser to help with further medical costs. Click here to learn how to help.
Ava Miles, 21, has been in and out of the hospital for the past five years after being diagnosed with gastroparesis.
"Very headstrong, funny, always making people laugh, but also has the kindest heart," Jennifer Miles said about her daughter, Ava Miles. “She didn’t get to go to prom or graduation, you know get a decorated dorm room or a first apartment. She hasn’t even been able to have a job.”
Jennifer Miles said Ava started with extreme stomach pain at 12 years old. By 16, it was a lot worse.
Gastroparesis is a digestive condition that affects the stomach muscles.
“It paralyzes the stomach, so her stomach just does not work," Jennifer Miles said. “How you can picture it is the worst food poisoning times ten and it lasts for months."
None of the treatments are working, and Ava Miles has faced several life-threatening complications in the past six months.
“When a doctor is looking at you saying, we’ve done all we can, and we need to get her help elsewhere, it’s time to do anything you can," Jennifer Miles said.
Ava Miles's doctors sent her to the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio where specialists lead the nation in endoscopic therapy for gastroparesis.
She waited a year just to get an appointment.
“She burst into tears but it was happy tears," Jennifer Miles said about Ava Miles when she got the call. "She was just smiling ear to ear and that is the most joy I have seen on her face in probably two years.”
Ava Miles is not medically stable enough to be driven or to fly commercially and needs an air ambulance to get there.
The cost? $39,920 one way, or around $80,000 in all.
Jennifer Miles said insurance won't pay for the out-of-state treatment or the transportation on the air ambulance.
“When you have a medical crisis that goes on for five or six years, and to this extent and to the extent that I had to stop working to care for her, she can’t be left alone, you know, like I said it’s one medical crisis away from financial ruin," Jennifer Miles said.
In the past week, the community has raised more than $36,000 to help get Ava Miles to Cleveland.
“I can’t even express how touched we are by it," Jennifer Miles said. “We just want her to have her quality of life back.”
If you would like to donate, click here or search "Please Help Aid Ava's Fight: Urgent Medical Transport" on GoFundMe.com.
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