Standing with Smitty Koozie
** PICK UP WILL BE AT THE SMITTY BENEFIT ON JUNE 10th AT THE BARN WHISKEY BAR!**
📣 ALL PROCEEDS WILL BE DONATED TO SMITTY 📣
💙💙💙💙💙
Copied from Smitty’s Story Facebook Group:
Jared was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when he was 8 months old. He has the second rarest form of CF and his family was told he would most likely not live into his twenties. Cystic Fibrosis is a rare genetic disease that affects the lungs, pancreas and other organs in the body and eventually leads to organ failure. He does 2-3 breathing treatments daily consisting of percussion treatment and inhaled medications to help clear his lungs and allow for more air clearance.
In true Jared fashion – he has been defying the odds and making the most of his life ever since diagnosis. He competed in baseball, football, and track all through his youth and high school. Jared advanced and competed at the regional track meet three years in a row. He continued his physical activity in college playing intramural sports and religiously going to the gym. Jared worked all through college and received his kinesiology degree from Sam Houston State University with the goal of being a teacher and coach.
Jared has lived in Barbers Hill most of his life – giving back to the community for over 10 years as a math teacher and coach at the middle and high schools. He currently is working at Barbers Hill High School and is the assistant softball coach. The 2021 team won the state championship, the first for BH.
In March of 2020, right as COVID was ramping up and the HLSR was shutting down, Jared married his wife, Kendra. They were able to have a small ceremony with only immediate family in March and another wedding in October at the Frio with family and friends. They have 18-month old twins, Jaxon and Sophie, that keep him on his toes. His wife and two small toddlers are what keeps him going on a daily basis.
Throughout his life Jared managed to stay out of the hospital until the spring of his junior year at the age of 17. Living with CF for that long and not having multiple hospitalizations is extremely rare. It was a true blessing as most CF patients usually have a big portion of their life in a hospital and had a lung transplant by the age of 22.
He continued to stay active and miraculously only had three hospitalizations throughout his 20s. Jared keeping up with a strict workout routine and good diet has kept him healthier and going longer than any doctor predicted.
The last year has seen more hospital stays than the other 33 years of Jared’s life combined. He has been admitted a total of 5 times in the past 12 months. This has led to his lungs functioning at only about 17%, which requires him to be on oxygen 24/7. The rapid decline and lung function has put him in need of a double-lung transplant. On December 13th, 2022 he was actively listed on the transplant list.
Please pray for Jared and our family as we wait for the call that the perfect lungs are available for him. We desperately want him to get his active lifestyle back and be able to play and run with his babies soon. We ask that you also pray for the family of the donor. Unfortunately, their loss will be what allows Jared to breathe in a way he hasn’t known for years. We are so grateful for his future donor and all donors out there!
#DonateLifeMonth
#standingwithsmitty