Former Groves woman battling for life; donations sought

Published 1:58 pm Thursday, January 21, 2016

An account has been set-up to help a former Groves resident and Port Neches-Groves Indianette who is fighting for her life at a Louisiana hospital.

Kassidy Adams Prestenbach, 29, is a 2005 PN-G graduate battling septic shock and is on life support at West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero, La. where she works as a registered nurse.

Her mother Paula Hillman, a Port Arthur native who is living in Oklahoma and is also a RN, said Prestenbach had a medical procedure on Friday, Jan. 15 and began running fever of 103 degrees by Saturday morning.

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“She was sick all day and became progressively worse,” Hillman, who flew from Oklahoma to Louisiana to be at her side, said via phone. “By the time she got to the ER (emergency room) Saturday her body was going into shock.”

The Groves native was so sick that her husband had to carry her from the truck into the emergency room on Sunday. She is currently on aggressive antibiotics, life-support due to respiratory failure and dialysis because of kidney failure.

Prestenbach and her husband have three children, sons, ages eight and five and a two-month-old daughter. She was to return to work from maternity leave on Feb. 1. Her husband is also at her side as she battles the illness therefore unable to work at this time.

“Kassidy is a very caring, very outgoing person and as an RN she’s compassionate,” she said, adding the family has seen support from people across the world and that one doctor took time from vacation to rush in to help on the case. Persons wishing to donate blood products can do so at Lifeshare Blood Center in Beaumont, Hillman said. The donation doesn’t need to be any specific blood type and will be credited to help with Prestenbach’s bill.

An account has also been set up at Capitol One. Persons wishing to donate to the account should specify Kassidy Adams Prestenbach’s name.

Another way to help is through a GoFundMe account Kassidy’s Angels created by Bridgette Comeaux Windsor.

E-mail: mary.meaux@panews.com

Twitter: MaryMeauxPANews