2 people from Gadsden who donât know each other suffer brain bleeds on Bahamas vacations
They were looking forward to enjoying rest and relaxation with their families in the Bahamas when tragedy struck two people who are from the same Alabama city but do not know each other.
Now, family and friends are helping Gadsden residents Anna Moore and Trey Thompson by raising tens of thousands of dollars for their recoveries from brain bleeds.
Moore, 38, was swimming in a pool with her children, her sister-in-law and her sister-in-law’s children at the beach house they rented in Exuma when she saw something floating in the ocean and ran down to the beach.
“When she got back up to the pool area, she goes over to the couches outside to lay down and said she didn’t feel good,” Spenser Templeton Moore, Anna Moore’s sister-in-law, told AL.com over email. “I initially thought that maybe she had just gotten overheated, so I stayed in the pool and continued to play with the kids.”
Templeton Moore, who set up a GoFundMe for her sister-in-law, then said she heard Anna’s husband, Dane Moore, say Anna was not breathing.
“I immediately rushed the kids inside so they would not see what was going on and went back up to help Anna. When I get back up to the pool, I see Dane and my husband Ryan performing CPR,” Templeton Moore said. “I immediately take over CPR from my husband and Dane and I continue to do so for almost an hour before the ambulance arrived.”
Templeton Moore described the next 20 hours of her sister-in-law’s ordeal as “some of the worst hours of our lives.”
She said it was “almost impossible” to get Anna Moore flown back to the United States for medical treatment because the family was in a foreign country.
Calls were made to Anna Moore’s insurance company and elected officials back in Alabama.
There were offers of private planes, “but we were faced with roadblocks at every end,” Templeton Moore said.
Anna Moore, her sister-in-law said, “received almost zero treatment” for her brain bleed at hospitals in Exuma and Nassau.
To make matters worse, according to Templeton Moore, the people who took Dane Moore and his wife from Exuma to Nassau refused to give back their passports unless they coughed up $700 and would not fly Anna Moore to an American hospital unless the family paid them $50,000 on the spot.
“Clearly, it was a huge money-making scheme for the locals and no one truly was concerned about Anna’s care,” Templeton Moore said.
But Templeton Moore said God was on the family’s side.
“He made a path that allowed a hospital in Florida be able to fly to Nassau, pick up her and Dane, and fly her back to the states,” she said.
The plan was for Anna Moore to be transferred to a large Fort Lauderdale, Florida, hospital, she had to be taken to a smaller one in the city because she stopped breathing during the flight.
“This was truly God’s plan as Anna received incredible care from the doctors and nurses at that hospital,” Templeton Moore said.
Doctors determined Anna Moore suffered an arteriovenous fistula (AVF), or an abnormal connection between arteries in the brain, that caused a severe brain bleed.
An angiogram was performed to reroute the AVF, and Anna Moore has since been transferred to University of Miami Hospital.
“While we continue to get good news every day that Anna is making strides, the strides she is making are minimal,” Templeton Moore said.
Anna Moore has not regained use of her left side and is facing months of rehabilitation in Miami, her sister-in-law said.
The family has already spent $20,000 alone for medical flights and Dane Moore has not been working to be at his wife’s side in Miami. Templeton Moore and her husband are taking care of Dane and Anna Moore’s children in Birmingham.
Initially, Templeton Moore’s GoFundMe had a goal of $15,000, which had been shattered just days after it went live on June 6.
Since then, more than $48,000 has been raised for Anna Moore’s care.
“The generosity from everyone who had supported our family through the GoFundMe, and through other ways, is truly a testament to how Anna and Dane lived their lives and how loved they are,” Templeton Moore said. “Anna and Dane both are some of the most giving human beings who would donate and give any chance they got. So it is truly a God blessing that they are able to feel the love back.”
Another Gadsden resident, Trey Thompson, never made it to the Bahamas when he suffered a brain bleed during his family’s cruise vacation.
Effort’s by AL.com to reach Thompson’s family were not successful.
With Thompson in critical condition, the ship was rerouted to Port Canaveral, Florida, since he was not stable enough to be transported to a hospital via helicopter, according to Rachel White, who organized the GoFundMe on Thompson’s behalf.
He was then taken to a hospital in Melbourne, Florida, for treatment.
“Trey’s life is a miracle, and while he is still in the midst of testing, surgeries and planning for his care, it’s clear that his road to recovery will require the support of his family and friends,” White wrote.
Thompson’s family is expected to have “significant costs” just from multiple emergency transports, let alone money needed to “help provide Trey and his family the ability to focus on recovery and health without worry of finance,” White continued.
She said Thompson and his family “are some of the most generous, faith-filled, servant-hearted people in their community.
“Let’s believe together for his complete healing, recovery and abundant life!” she wrote.
Thompson’s GoFundMe has raised nearly $16,000, including from at least one person aboard their cruise ship.
The fundraiser’s goal is to raise $25,000.