A 12-year-old girl continues to inspire friends and family in Fulton County as she awaits a heart transplant 2,000 miles away.
Anna King — daughter of longtime Mayfield residents Joe and Pam King and a niece of Gloversville Mayor Dayton King — was diagnosed a year ago with dilated cardiomyopathy, a disease that enlarged and weakened her heart. She is on a waiting list for the heart with Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.
Over the last year, the family has benefited from several fundraisers held locally and in Houston. Anna’s story has attracted local and national media attention as well as the attention of several celebrities, including PGA golfer Erik Compton.
This Sunday, friends and family have scheduled another fundraiser for Anna at Lanzi’s on the Lake, a restaurant on Route 30 in Mayfield. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for children. The price includes food and dessert.
Leslie Lanzi, who is helping with the event’s publicity, said the fundraiser is for a good cause. “This little girl needs a heart and this benefit is to help her and her family,” she said.
Anna King will not be present, as doctors have forbidden her to travel. But she will be there anyway, via video, as she performs a song she wrote about her illness, Lanzi said.
The event runs from 2 to 6 p.m. and will feature music by Skyler’s Dream Team and Cleenstreet, food, games, auctions and raffles.
The King family moved to Houston a year ago when Pam King lost her teaching job in the Mayfield school district. She has family there and Houston offered job opportunities to her and her husband, who operates a handyman business.
Although they have health insurance, the Kings have incurred additional costs associated with Anna’s treatments, said Dayton King.
“They have insurance and it covers a lot of things, but they have incidental costs. Also, Pam is staying home to care for her daughter, who isn’t going to school,” King said. “The doctors say she is hanging in there and there is no time limit, but it is not getting better.”
King said the entire King family remains optimistic for the young girl’s prognosis.
For more information, visit Anna King’s website at humorhealstheheart.org.
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