Help the Jobins reunite with mother & child under one roof: LifeFunder.com
(LifeSiteNews) — A Canadian family of eleven, whose daughter tragically suffered brain damage during birth, hopes to be reunited under one roof in 2022 following three years of separation due to inadequate living conditions at home for their special needs child.
Marc and Carole Jobin had hugged their children goodbye on September 2, 2018, leaving home for the hospital, excited to meet their new little one.
The child was in a footling breech position, causing Carole to suffer a ruptured uterus and baby Marie-Ange to be deprived of oxygen. This resulted in a significant brain injury to the newborn baby.
The hemorrhaging that followed also nearly took Carole’s life. A mother of nine children, she has been a full-time nurse to her little girl since then, providing care for hours on end each day.
The family’s small rural house is unfortunately unsuitable for the 24/7 nursing care needed for Marie-Ange, as her condition requires a temperature-stable environment that is impossible to achieve in a century-old home heated by a wood stove.
A move was considered, but in the current market, meeting this family’s housing needs would be beyond the means of a single income. Carole therefore was forced to move with Marie-Ange to a more suitable rental in a neighboring town.
Being struck by the family’s love for each other, Myles Dear, a community advocate whose son also has complex medical needs, then suggested they take the humbling step of reaching out to the public for support in order to bring Marie-Ange and Carole home.
The Jobins have since been helped by readers of LifeSiteNews and others to begin work on a purpose-built extension to their home, so that Marie-Ange and her mother might at last be reunited with the rest of the family.
The Knights of Columbus in Ottawa and the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) both stepped up to arrange this fundraiser on LifeSite’s LifeFunder.com and GoFundMe, bringing in $17,699CAD and $14,955CAD on the respective crowdfunding platforms.
Help the Jobins reunite with mother & child under one roof: LifeFunder.com
A significant amount still needs to be raised, with the family needing to finish the roof and seal the modest extension as soon as possible.
In a video posted by Myles Dear, one of the Jobin children explains how hard it has been without his mother’s presence in their home.
“I miss my Mom,” he said. “It’s been hard. One day she was there for me every day, and then she wasn’t.”
“She’s been missing out on birthdays and Christmas,” he added. “She used to tuck us into bed at night, my older sisters have to do that now.”
Several miles away in the rented townhouse, mother Carole reports that Marie-Ange’s general health has been stable, except when she gets too hot or cold, resulting in a sudden change to her closely-monitored heart rate. She is fed through a tube and her airways managed with suctioning and repositioning.
Husband Marc has said they are witnessing a Christian miracle unfold as volunteers, many of them from MDS, pour in to finish the building, with some contractors even providing materials in advance of payment.
In the space of one month the extension went from a hole in the ground to what looks like a house, and by the weekend the team expects to be working on the roof.
“Truly our family is witnessing a Christian miracle from the people of God,” Marc told LifeSiteNews. “Thank you again to the Knights of Columbus for their province-wide fundraiser — everyone has been so generous.”
“Thank you also to the generous audience of LifeSiteNews,” he added.
Having raised almost $40,000CAD, the family is still in need of some $110,000CAD to complete the inside of the home with the appropriate insulating materials, furniture, and equipment for Marie-Ange’s care.
Help the Jobins reunite with mother & child under one roof: LifeFunder.com