- October 4, 2024
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Clynton Byer has had two transplant surgeries in the past 14 months. His medical issues have been a burden on his family emotionally and financially.
His wife, Lisa Byer, has had to juggle her job with New York Life, her roles with the Palm Coast-Flagler Regional Chamber of Commerce — as chair of the SpringFest small business expo and vice chair of the chamber’s small business council — with traveling back and forth from their home in Palm Coast to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.
“You have to stay in two places,” Lisa Byer said. “There’s home. The dogs are here. The responsibilities are here, and there’s Gabriel House as well.”
Clynton was scheduled to spend 30 days at Gabriel House on the Mayo Clinic campus after getting discharged from the hospital following his kidney transplant on June 5. Lisa monitors his blood pressure, his eating and stays with him through the night.
Clynton and Lisa both immigrated from Barbados, Clynton when he was 4 and Lisa after they were married in 1995. They have three grown children — Carlyle, 26, who got married last year; Stacy, 23; and Danyelle, 21.
On Christmas Day, 1995, nine months after Lisa and Clynton were wed, a severe flu virus attacked Clynton’s heart, reducing his heart function to 50%, according to a GoFundMe page set up to help the family.
By 2017, with less than 15% heart functionality remaining, Clynton was placed on the heart transplant waiting list. With his heart function below 10% and a left ventricular assist device implanted to keep him alive, Clynton finally received a new heart on April 30, 2023.
Lisa got the call that the heart was in transit on the day of SpringFest.
“I was literally in the middle of running that, the biggest event of my life, with all of these vendors,” she said.
They told her to get to the hospital by 10 p.m. When Clynton finally got out of surgery the next day, doctors told Lisa that he had the worst infection they had ever seen from the LVAD.
A second surgery the next day killed Clynton’s kidneys, Lisa said. Because a second organ failed during transplant surgery, Clynton was put on top of the list for a kidney transplant. On March 11, Lisa received the call, but Clynton’s blood count was too low to have the surgery. He finally received a new kidney on June 5, but not without another scare.
“They said the new kidney won't wake up,” Lisa said. “But Mayo is top-notch. Finally, after doing some creative procedures it started to wake up.”
Carlyle was married on Oct. 29, 2023. Clynton had been in the hospital with parcreatitis, but he was able to travel to Georgia to be in the wedding.
“Normally pancreatitis kills transplant patients,” Lisa said. “But he survived again. I think he has nine lives.”
The Byers have gone through $120,000 in retirement savings to pay their medical bills, Lisa said.
“It’s challenging to say the least,” she said. “There’s money coming in but money going out to pay the bills.”
As of July 5, $8,210 has been raised by GoFundMe. On the page, the Byer children said, “Today, at over 50 years old, our dad finally has all his organs functioning properly. Throughout these struggles, our parents have been pillars of our community. Dad coached soccer, went on field trips, attended all our games and concerts, and contributed to church security and sound boards. Our mom, while holding a steady job, joined our community’s Chamber of Commerce and hosted an event supporting over 100 small businesses.”
“It's been a challenge,” Lisa said. “But maybe I'm going through it, so I can encourage somebody else that they can make it, to tell them, ‘Don’t give up,’ because many, many, many times we thought it was over. But we're still standing, and just when we thought it was over, we got that call. So, it’s very important, be a donor, because you don't know who you can impact. That's what I would say.”
To help the Byers, go to gofundme.com/f/please-help-us-keep-our-dad-clynton-healthy-and-hopeful.
