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Connellsville woman passes away following long battle after Arizona hiking incident

By Mark Hofmann mhofmann@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read
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A local family is grieving over the loss of a Connellsville woman following a hiking accident but is grateful that her tragedy will help others in the future.

“She literally brought people together from all over the world,” said Norma Miller of her niece, Rebecca Rowan, 26, of Connellsville.

Rebecca passed away on Friday evening at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh.

On July 12, Rebecca and her brother, Andrew, were hiking near Tucson when they ran out of water and accidentally wandered off the trail. They became confused due to heat exhaustion and dehydration.

While Andrew had recovered, Rebecca had fallen unconscious. She was taken to Banner UMC in Arizona, where doctors said she would need a double organ transplant to replace her damaged liver and kidneys.

Since Rebecca’s insurance had lapsed earlier this year, the hospital couldn’t place her on an organ transplant list without either insurance or cash on hand. The family raised $104,420 in a matter of days by sharing her story, which also paved the way for strangers from different walks of life to help reinstate her insurance.

The family also found that she didn’t need a liver transplant as it had regenerated but would need a kidney transplant in the future.

In early August, it was discovered that Rebecca had an invasive mucor fungus, which caused significant damage to her spleen, stomach and colon.

In mid-August, Rebecca headed closer to home to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh; around the same time, the fungus was found on the wall of her abdomen. While surgery could not remove the fungus, doctors were hoping medicines would work as the doctors at UMPC consulted with the top infectious disease expert in the world to work on Rebecca’s case.

Things started looking hopeful for Rebecca on Sept. 3 with news that she had beaten the fungus, but she had complications from her closing surgery earlier that day.

Miller shared the heartbreaking text message she received on Saturday morning from Rebecca’s mother, “Our baby went home to Jesus late last night. She fought a good fight and beat the mucor. Her poor tired body went into shock after the surgery and her blood pressure dropped and couldn’t be brought back up. Thank you for everything. You’ve all fought so hard right along side us. We love you all so much”.

While the family and friends and strangers who have helped in many different ways were struck by the news of Rebecca’s passing, Miller said it wasn’t all for nothing.

At one point, an infectious disease doctor approached Rebecca’s parents, asking them to sign papers, permitting them to use Rebecca’s case in the “New England Journal of Medicine” because the mixture for the fungus worked so well, the doctor called it miraculous.

“She will save future lives with their discovery. She mattered,” Miller said. “I also believe that because of who she was in this life that God needed her for something great, and we will see one day.”

Family and friends will be received in the Brooks Funeral Home, Inc., 111 E. Green St., Connellsville on Monday from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. and Tuesday from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m., the hour of services with Rev. Bruce A. Anthony officiating.

Interment will follow in the Cochran Cemetery.

The family has suggested memorial donations be made to transplant organizations for the underinsured, such as helphopelive.org, transplants.org or americantransplantfoundation.org.

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