It is with the deepest sadness that we share with you the passing of our mom, Kim Kersey.

She was a vibrant and yes – stubborn soul. Most are unaware that she was battling heart and renal failure. She chose to privately fight her health issues for several years. On June 3rd, 2023, she was admitted to Memorial Health’s Cardiovascular ICU. There we learned that she would have to undergo an open-heart procedure because of a heart attack, which presented its own challenges in addition to her being in renal failure.

The surgery was completed, and she pulled through without complication. Initially, things progressed as expected until June 17th when Mom went into cardiac arrest. Once again, she beat the odds and came back to us. And so began the roller coaster ride of ICU, touch and go days, and complications from extended ICU treatment and medications. We learned that she has a severe reaction to Heparin, known as HIT. We reevaluated her medications with her team of doctors and thought we were back on the right track. She was moved to a step-down room, she was working with physical therapy, she was responding well to dialysis, and we naively thought she might be on the mend. We knew the road ahead would be long and bumpy, but we were all ready to travel that with her. Our world changed again when she went into cardiac arrest on July 9th and began to hemorrhage. This was the end of a courageous battle for our Mom.

Mom passed from this Earth at 2:07 PM on Sunday July 09th, with us at her side.

In lieu of flowers, we ask that you donate blood to the American Red Cross, every opportunity you can. If you’re inclined to make a monetary donation to help the family with her medical expenses, that is appreciated as well.

In her honor, at a date to be announced, the family will be hosting an American Red Cross Blood drive, where we can all donate blood in her honor. Blood drives were very important to her, she’d hosted some of the most successful drives the Red Cross has seen in one setting. Her passion came full circle when she was in need, and what a priceless gift to receive. Let’s continue that tradition that she started!

We cannot express the gratitude our family holds for all of you that have supported Mom, myself, my sister Jennifer, and my Dad, David. In times where we find ourselves alone in our thoughts, you lift us up. I know I can say on her behalf, you lifted her as well.

Thank You.

This campaign is unpublished.