ABOUT US

The Mission of the Lucy Simpson Foundation is "To offer Comfort, Care and Financial Assistance to families that have lost children; in the spirit of Galatians 6:2"

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."

Our Story

The Lucy Simpson Foundation began with our own heartache and a community that became the hands and feet of Christ...

My wife, Mimi, and I live in Johnson City TN with our four children Tyner (13), Maggie (11) and Hunt (9) and Luke(3). In October of 2013, we were pregnant with our fourth child and nearing full term. One Saturday afternoon while hiking the lower part of the Creeper Trail, Mimi realized that Lucy was not moving very much. She was a very active baby so we went home and stayed vigilant. By Sunday at church, her movements had slowed more. We thought she was just running out of room so we were not terribly concerned. By 2pm, Lucy had not moved in an hour and a half. We rushed to the hospital.

By 7pm that night and after many twists and turns, Mimi’s doctor decided an emergency C-Section was necessary. Lucy was born about an hour later with only 15% of her blood left in her body, her organs were not functioning well and she was fighting to survive. Later we learned that Lucy suffered from a rare type of fetal anemia and she had been losing very small amounts of blood throughout the pregnancy.

Lucy was quickly rushed to Niswonger Children’s Hospital and her doctors went to work. She fought and fought. Her blood gas reports were all over the place and her doctor told me there was no explanation for why she was still alive. We knew why, little Lucy had an army of people praying for her.

After a valliant 3 day battle, Lucy died.

While we experienced the greatest loss we had ever known and were grieving deeply, another challenge had begun to build. You see, several months prior, I left my corporate job to start a new company. During that transition, there would be a loss of Insurance and an option for COBRA.

The end result was that we totally lost coverage just before we entered the hospital. So, there we were with the burden of losing Lucy and bills mounting to the tune of $260,000. Devastating.

Immediately we were surrounded by our community. They prayed for us, prayed with us, comforted us each hour and walked with us through this journey of grief. And, people stepped up big time to help us financially.

Eventually, through a series of fundraising mechanisms, private gifts, a lot of negotiating and a lot of prayer…we were able to meet our total debt obligation. It was truly amazing.

Now, we have the desire to do the same for other families in the same situation. We want to help them with these financial burdens in time of deep grief. But, we also want to comfort and care for them in many other ways.

As a family, and now a foundation; we realize that many people do not have a community or church to care for them in times like these. So, we want to fill that void. We want to care for these families and surround them with love.

Join us, let's do something that matters!

- Hunter Simpson

OUR STORY IN PICTURES