Woman who planned assisted suicide is ‘hanging on by just a thread’ and needs your help

(LifeSiteNews) — A Canadian woman with debilitating illnesses who had previously decided to euthanize herself with Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) has recently pulled herself back from the brink of killing herself, but she is in need of help with expenses for mobility, home accessibility, and medical care.

“She’s hanging on by just a thread,” Lino DeFacendis, founder and CEO of Life Care Network, told LifeSiteNews.

Help Tiffany Access Medical Care and Mobility Support

Tiffany Felkai suffers from Cervical Cranial Instability and brain stem compression due to her genetic illness, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. This means the ligaments connecting her upper vertebrae and skull are loose, requiring a neck brace and causing a long list of symptoms, sometimes excruciating, that have included extreme headaches and paralysis.

Tiffany was misdiagnosed for years by Canadian doctors. It wasn’t until she hired a medical case management agency and was sent to a U.S.-based neurologist that she received a correct diagnosis, her first step to obtaining proper treatment. However, the Ontario Ministry of Health (OMH) would only accept the diagnosis of Canadian doctors, leaving her unable to acquire the care she needed.

She thereafter suffered from some personal issues and grueling physical symptoms: by October 2024, she was bed-bound up to 20 hours a day, suffered from week-long periods of speech loss, migraine-induced paralysis, and “unbearable” spine pain. 

After having made literally hundreds of phone calls to government agencies and NGOs asking for help over the course of nine years, and having been denied funding for a critical surgery as well as pain management, Tiffany felt she had no choice but to commit assisted suicide. She lives alone, lacks family support, and has no one available to drive or help her in daily activities. 

With the encouragement and support of Life Care Network (LCN) over the past few months, Tiffany has been convinced to hang on. LCN has been providing her with Personal Support Workers (PSWs) to help her through each day.

However, Tiffany is also hanging on in hope of medical care and mobility support that will help manage her symptoms and allow her to be independent. Her LifeFunder fundraiser will help her obtain:

• A portable power chair with suspension
• An elevating seat on a power wheelchair that would allow her to access basic necessities
• An electric front door opener that would allow her to independently enter and exit her home safely 
• An adjustable bed frame, essential for symptom management, rest, and reducing pain and neurological strain
• Concussion rehabilitation therapy to manage neurological symptoms

Help Tiffany Access Medical Care and Mobility Support

All funds raised will go directly toward supporting these immediate needs. Obtaining these supports will go a long way in helping Tiffany to function independently and avoid further progression of her symptoms as she advocates for proper medical care.

DeFacendis told LifeSiteNews that Tiffany has been “finding some comfort in our dear Lord’s wise command ‘So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.’ (Matthew 6:34)”

He is requesting prayers for Tiffany and for the Life Care Network ministry.

Learn more about Tiffany’s story here.