Lola, a 10-year-old, wants to celebrate with her parents as the family deals with her dad’s health crisis
They planned the trip of a lifetime.
To celebrate, all together as a family, one last time before a recurring medical procedure for one of them was about to alter the routine.
Amber Kent and Scott King were going to take their daughter Lola to Florida. For Disneyworld. Epcot. Universal Studios. Maybe a water park, too.
And when they returned, it was going to be time for King to start dialysis. King, now in his late 40s, was diagnosed with diabetes more than 20 years ago, long before he met Amber. In November of 2019, he was diagnosed with terminal kidney failure.
They planned this big family vacation for the spring of 2020.
The pandemic arrived, and the vacation was off.
The Vancouver family did get vouchers from the airline, but those vouchers had to be redeemed prior to an upcoming deadline. So Amber, Scott, and Lula have booked another trip to Florida, set for May.
Only, in the past two years, both parents have not been able to work as much, dealing with Scott’s medical issues. Scott’s dialysis, which began in 2020, has been a three-times-a-week commitment, and is about to become five days a week.
Funds are tight.
Still, they are hoping to make this trip happen this time. The family is in the process of nailing down the details to allow Scott to get his dialysis that week in Florida — hopefully only three times — but other than that, they want a week of memory makers.
“I just really want to be able to take her and just go crazy and have a really, really fun time,” Amber said of Lola, now 10 years old. “Go to the water park. Go to Disney. Just to be able to go to a beach and play and not have too many cares for that one particular week when we’re out and about.”
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the family offset the costs of the theme park tickets and other day-to-day items associated with a weeklong trip to the other side of the country. The goal is $5,000 and already, Amber, Scott and Lola have seen more than $2,400 in donations.
“I think that it’s definitely filled me and Scott with a lot of renewed faith in people and humanity,” Amber said. “People come forward. ‘I want to do this for you.’ ‘I want to take this off your plate.’ ‘I can’t give much but here.’ It feels really good to have people think about you and want to help you.”
Many parents of Lola’s friends have donated, as well. Amber said that makes her and Scott feel like good parents. Clearly, Lola is not out there creating havoc in the neighborhood, Amber joked.
She added that many of the donations have come with well wishes and beautiful messages. To help this Vancouver family go on their dream vacation, go to their GoFundMe page at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-a-little-girl-make-awesome-memories?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unknown&utm_campaign=comms_wxj6+help-a-little-girl-make-awesome-memories
