Stephanie Taylor knows the kindness of strangers all too
well.
Stephanie Taylor knows the kindness of strangers all too well.
Taylor’s infant son, Ethan Taylor Estrada, was born with a heart defect that will always impair his health and calls for two major surgeries in the first year of his life. These surgeries will be performed at Stanford University Medical Center and are very expensive. So Hollister resident Oracio Galvan decided to help.
“I was at this Christmas party Dec. 22 and I saw a donation can with Ethan on it,” Galvan said. “I thought, ‘Here we are celebrating Christmas and this baby’s fighting for his life.'”
Galvan heard about Ethan’s situation from donation cans that have been distributed around town and wanted to help the family. He solicited businesses for donations and organized a benefit dinner-dance to raise money to cover their medical expenses.
Stephanie Taylor was told by Stanford Medical Center staff that expenses for the first surgery, a heart bypass, will be between $50,000 and $60,000 per day. Ethan would be in the hospital for a week or two, she said.
Taylor has insurance but her lifetime maximum is $2 million, which may be eaten up by the first surgery, she said.
“I was told to get has much help as I could,” Taylor said. “…Hollister is really amazing when it comes to supporting things – even small things like Ethan.”
Ethan was born Dec. 11, 2002 with Epstein’s Anomaly, a heart defect in which the right valve is deformed, making the right ventricle weak. Normally, babies need the bypass surgery within the first few weeks of birth, but Ethan’s bypass could be put off until April, Taylor said. Doctors want him to be bigger and stronger for the surgery, she said.
The bypass will reconstruct the valve to prepare Ethan for open-heart surgery later.
Because of his condition, Ethan will never be able to play full-contact sports or smoke, Taylor said. Besides the heart defect, Ethan is an active and “colorful” baby, she said.
The benefit dinner-dance will be held March 29 at the Hollister Elks Lodge. A no-host cocktail hour begins at 6 p.m. A Mexican food buffet will be served at 7 p.m. and dancing from 8 p.m. until midnight will be led by the Mighty Spice Band from Salinas. A silent auction will feature donated items including rounds of golf, oil changes, wines and restaurant gift certificates. There will also be a raffle for donated prizes.
Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door, and are available at Hothouse Express, Johnny’s Bar and Grill and from Galvan. Tickets can also be purchased through Gold’s Gym that are redeemable for fitness classes for a four-hour period March 22.
Donation cans are at Fortino’s Total Home, AAA Insurance, Round Table Pizza, Muenzer’s Sporting Goods and Las Palmas Restaurant. In addition, an account has been set up for Ethan at San Benito Bank.
For more information, e-mail Galvan at [email protected].
