Blair’s Story
Blair was a sophomore at Hopkins High School. She loved to read, swim, talk politics (she hoped to be the 1st woman president) hang out with friends and she loved her dog Dakota. Blair had a huge heart and was loved by many especially her Aunts, Uncles and cousins. During her journey she always had a smile on her face even on those tough days, she was a hero to many and taught us all a lot about life and how we should not “sweat the small stuff.”
Our Foundation
Helping Other People Every Day
Blair’s Dad Tom and Stepmother Kim were sitting outside looking at the sky and trees and were discussing Blair’s journey one night. It was then that they talked about how they could Help Other People Everyday to reduce their stress. Thus our mission statement “Branching out to Help Other People Everyday with practical daily services so that the families could spend more quality time with their child who has a life threatening illness”.
Blair was diagnosed with Leukemia on Wednesday June 22, 2005. This began her very heroic journey. She was 14 years old at the time of her diagnosis and she was 16 years old when she passed away on March 25, 2007.
Blair spent over 300 days in the hospital. This journey started with chemotherapy, then onto her stem-cell transplant, she battled several infections including influenza with time spent in PICU from Dec 24th, 2005 through Jan. 20th, 2006. After surviving the PICU (which we were told most patients that were in her condition while in PICU did not survive) she continued to battle which took several months before she was really up and around and able to do things. She had a feeding tube in 5 times and we were told it would never come out. She was so excited to start her sophomore year at Hopkins High School and we are so glad she was able to make it through as much as she could. She was determined to try and be as normal as possible but it just seemed like she got hit with one thing after another but she persevered.
On February 5, 2007 we were told that she had a respiratory virus and it was discovered that the Leukemia was back. She was admitted to the hospital where they began the treatment and cured the Leukemia. Unfortunately, the respiratory virus continued to progress and she was once more in PICU where she remained on the ventilator to assist her breathing until March 25, 2007 when she earned her Pink and Orange Wings.
Throughout Blair’s journey Tom and Kim spent many hours at the hospital and at doctor appointments. They also kept up her medications (up to 32 pills a day). Both Tom and Kim worked, managed the household (laundry, bills, lawn care, groceries, snow removal) spent time with the other family members, working with the school, her tutor and many other things.
Tom and Kim do know first hand the stresses that families go through. They went through just about everything that one child could go through, hospitals, tests, doctors, running out of insurance, PICU (twice) so you can put your trust and HOPE in them knowing that they have been there done that!
Our Services
Hospital personnel will make referrals to Blair’s Tree of Hope for the families who meet the criteria that we have set forth. This procedure is done by the hospital submitting our standard application to us for board approval.
Monthly Events are held at the U of M Amplatz Children’s Hospital – Scrap-booking, card-making or making bracelets. Snacks, toiletries, magazines and lip balm are brought to the U of M BMT Unit 4th floor Amplatz Children’s Hospital and Minneapolis Children’s Hospital 7th Floor every other week.
Baskets of “HOPE” are donated to fundraisers for families who are raising funds for their journeys and we have donated our “HOPE” baskets to other foundations to help them raise funds.
Vendors
If you are a vendor and are interested in providing a service to the Blair’s Tree of Hope 501c3 Non-Profit foundation send an email to mbarns@blairstreeofhope.org.