ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – A Rochester family recently had to say goodbye to their three-month-old daughter who was having heart problems. But there is one silver lining to the tragedy: They’ve made it their mission to help other families facing similar challenges.

When Matt Humphrey and Janelle Santos welcomed Isabel, their first child, into the world in April, they were overjoyed.

“The only thing that really mattered to us was Isabel,” Humphrey said.

Humphrey and Santos were described as happy babies and ready for parenthood.

“Everything was fine with her. It was only after five weeks that we noticed that things were different for her,” recalls Santos.

Isabel began to refuse food. It wasn’t long before she ended up in the hospital with a feeding tube. Then doctors discovered that Isabel’s heart was no longer pumping properly and put her on the transplant list.

“It was a whirlwind of emotions. At first we thought we could take her home and she would be fine, then we knew a heart transplant was very likely,” Humphrey said.

Isabel suffered a stroke and was taken off the transplant list. Matt and Janelle then faced the difficult decision to withdraw her life support.

On July 31, after an outpouring of support, Isabel became an organ donor – donating her kidneys to someone in need and other organs for research.

“Her final gift is to give life to someone else, and that made it easier for us,” Humphrey said.

The community stepped in and offered help with the medical bills.

“We’ve told people, no, we don’t need this, you know, it feels stupid to accept anything when there are families on the ward who are really struggling and these diagnoses are an insurmountable burden for them, including financially,” Santos said. “But despite that, we’ve continued to receive gifts. Obviously, people really want to help and they’re in the mood to give, and so we want to get the money to the people who really need it.”

A Go Fund Me campaign was launched in Isabel’s honor and quickly raised over $40,000 to help other families.

“We can honor her life and her legacy and know that we will continue to fight for her every day. And so we will,” Santos said.

Santos and Humphrey plan to continue raising money for other families suffering from the same stress.

“We really felt the love. Like I said, raising over $40,000 in three weeks is incredible and we’re not done yet,” Humphrey said.

Humphrey and Santos are still figuring out where to send all the donations, but they say a large amount will go to the Children’s Organ Transplant Association.

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