As many of you know, our journey to where we are today began with one bite of a brownie that was made with peanut flour, the day after Hannah’s nineteenth birthday. This one bite, on Monday night, led to an allergic reaction that, although pretty strong, seemed to have ended before Hannah laid down to rest well over an hour after she took that bite. After laying down, she rolled on her side, and that is apparently when her lung collapsed. Then as she was trying to climb down out of her bed on the top bunk, she lost consciousness and never regained it. For the next several hours EMTs then doctors frantically searched for the cause of why her blood oxygen was so low and, “How things got this bad so quickly.” Everyone thought that the allergic reaction, called anaphylaxis, was the problem, but it wasn’t until an Xray was taken that the collapsed lung was discovered. With just a quick and simple procedure, they reinflated the lung and her oxygen level shot back up to where it should be. From that point on she was stable, but the damage done to her brain during that period of confusion was concerning, but unknown. Through the course of that week in the hospital we prayed for healing but watched as her condition slowly deteriorated.
It was during this time in the hospital that we began a Facebook page so that we could notify and update family and friends about Hannah condition. Then as the days went on, we began to also share our experience as her parents, since people were asking about us too. On Wednesday we met with a family member, in the cafeteria of the hospital, who had suddenly developed a serious health condition. He had come to the same hospital that day to be put on the organ donation list. As we met, the idea of organ donation began to form in our minds. On Friday night, Hannah’s heart began to slow way down, and her condition deteriorated. After more testing, it was determined that there was nothing more that could be done and that her life would soon end. At that point we told the medical team that we needed to donate Hannah’s organs so that we could save other lives and so that other families didn’t have to say goodbye to their loved ones like we were. On Sunday afternoon, an honor walk was held as Hennah was moved from her room in the ICU towards the operating room. Because of the Facebook page, around three hundred people came to honor Hannah, the most ever seen in the hospital. One week after her birthday, at 3:57 PM, her heart stopped keeping her alive, but soon, it saved the life of someone else. In fact, she was able to save four lives that day, and four families didn’t have to say goodbye to someone they loved!
Through several tv and online interviews her story spread quickly and reached around the world. After Hannah’s passing and as time has gone on, her life and story has been helpful to many people for a variety of reasons. That simple Facebook page grew and became the start of something that we called Hannah Helps. The name Hannah Helps was intended to shift the focus from the loss of Hannah to the beauty of her life and the “help” that she still is today though her story. Her life and tragic passing are both sad and yet inspirational.
Why am I saying all this, you may (or may not) ask? Yesterday, we finished filing the paperwork, and paying the fees of course, that makes Hannah Helps a legitimate, legal, “real” organization. Once the paperwork is approved, this will include a 501( C ) 3 tax exemption as a charitable, nonprofit organization. This next chapter of her story is designed to: help people through grief support, allergy support and awareness, organ donation support and awareness, and to spread the story of her life and faith in the Lord. This will be done through social media, printed materials, her website, and speaking opportunities (if necessary). Just to refresh everyone, we have Remembering Hannah Glass on Facebook which is pretty much maxed out.
https://www.facebook.com/hannah.glass.2024/
That’s why we started a separate Hannah Helps page on FB.
https://www.facebook.com/p/Hannah-Helps-61572790105576/
This account is not a “personal account,” it’s considered a business account which means that it gives us more flexibility and growth potential. Then we have the blog website where we are putting all the information from FB into a more easy to read website format.
This site also includes more pictures, links to helpful information, and videos. We intend for the website to be the one place to go for all information about Hannah, her passing, allergies, grief support, and organ donation. Finally, we have Hannah Helps on YouTube .
https://www.youtube.com/@HannahHelps19
This is the home for our videos and hopefully someday we will share all the Facebook information in video form for the 98% of humanity that prefers to watch a video over reading. If you have made it this far, you must be in the 2%. But remember that 76% of statistics are made up on the spot…. 😊 Anyway, you all know that we are not professionals, but we just continue to try to Do right: breathe, take small steps, and keep moving forward!
We are blessed.
Hannah Helps 