Crystal Lake businesses rally to raise money for Woodstock woman’s heart transplant

Woodstock resident Emma Kotecki is no stranger to heart surgeries because of a rare genetic condition she’s had since birth. At just 24 years old, she has undergone four open-heart surgeries, but now the need has arisen for a heart transplant.

And with that come serious costs that health insurance does not cover. The Kotecki family and the nonprofit Children’s Organ Transplant Association estimate they will need $65,000 for extended hospital stays, medical costs, travel and lodging during the surgery and recovery process.

Kotecki, who is a Crystal Lake Central High School graduate, is diagnosed with Jacobsen syndrome, a genetic defect that the U.S. National Laboratory of Medicine reports has been diagnosed in fewer than 300 children. The syndrome can cause heart defects and a bleeding disorder called Paris-Trousseau that causes a lifelong risk of abnormal bleeding and easy bruising, and Kotecki suffers with both. “Basically, she was born with half a heart,” Kotecki’s mom, Beth Kotecki, said on their fundraising page.

Their first local fundraiser will be at the Crystal Lake Culver’s, 400 Pingree Road, from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. Customers must tell the cashier that they are there for the fundraiser in order to have Culver’s donate 15% of their order, said Stacy Beecroft, lifelong friend of Beth Kotecki.

The family also has seven coin canisters at the following Crystal Lake businesses: Julie Ann’s, Benedict’s La Strata, Ms. Bossy Boots, A-Z Interiors, Out of the Box, Grounds Coffee Bar and Summer Moon Coffee. Customers can donate spare change or use the QR code to donate directly to Kotecki’s fundraising webpage.

Out of the Box owner Nicole Garringer said participating in the fundraiser hits close to home because she donated her kidney about eight years ago. Julie Ann’s owner Linda Anderson has been friends with Beth Kotecki for many years and hopes she can help with their financial burdens in any way she can.

“I hope they reach their goal so they’re not in debt,” she said. “Being in debt is a huge stressor. Just to relieve that one stress from them, let alone having a transplant.”

Emma Kotecki was put on the heart transplant list in January after she started to feel more lethargic and experience cardiac symptoms, Beth Kotecki said. A lot is still up in the air making it hard to determine when Kotecki will be scheduled for the surgery, which will be done at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, Beth Kotecki said.

Emma’s older brother, Jacob, is diagnosed with autism and requires care while Beth Kotecki stays near and at the hospital. These are costs that the fundraiser can also help the family with, Beth Kotecki said.

“There’s so many other pieces that are not covered,” she said. “For two to three months afterwards, we have to live down there to be close to the hospital to get blood work drawn regularly.”

The family is working with the Children’s Organ Transplant Association, or COTA, to raise money to help them with the financial burdens of the surgery. Beecroft is working on the fundraiser as the community coordinator. COTA provides 100% of donations to the family, Beecroft said. The Kotecki’s are still looking for a volunteer to help them with public relations coordination.

Their COTA fundraising page has raised over $8,000, so far. Anyone can donate with the language “to COTA in honor of Emma Kotecki” at cota.org/cotaforemmak.

“They’re going directly to COTA and then COTA distributes 100% of them to Emma’s family,” Beecroft said.

Kotecki’s last open-heart surgery was performed in 2016 when she was 16 years old. Through a successful GoFundMe campaign, the family was able to raise over $35,000 to cover the travel, boarding and other medical costs.

The original heart surgery has caused pressure on the liver, leaving Emma with cirrhosis of the liver. Doctors predicted Kotecki will need a liver transplant in the future. But, it is possible Kotecki’s liver could recover on its own with the new heart, Beth Kotecki said.

“It can regenerate itself when she gets a new heart so that’s what the hope is going to be,” she said. “Pretty miraculous.”

More fundraisers will be planned in the near future including t-shirts for sale on their COTA website, Beecroft said.