Hundreds of Iowans donate to father in need of heart transplant
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DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — Hundreds — if not thousands — of people lined up in their cars outside Tumea & Sons Sunday afternoon for a pasta dinner and to support a Des Moines father of three in heart failure.
Some said they waited an hour and a half in the line that stretch down Indianola Avenue.
“A couple hours but it’s for a good cause, so it’s the least we can do,” said Brendin Himan, a friend of Dustin Bachman, as he sat in his parked car at the intersection of Indianola Avenue and Gray Street.
“It almost feels like I’m already winning! I’m on like victory lane right now,” Bachman said, knowing the finish line is much further down the road.
His doctors can only guarantee him 3 more weeks, and the earliest he can be put on a transplant list is May. But Bachman, along with everyone else in line, is more than determined to see him then.
“Now I’m being told I have weeks left, and in my heart, as bad as it is, I feel like I’m going to be here,” he said.
“Him knowing he has this big army of people behind him… that’s a big help! I think that gives everybody hope especially Dustin,” Bachman’s sister, Mandi Bidwell said.
As his friends and family continued to serve out the delicious pasta dinners, they choose to see the good that can come out of a horrible situation.
They choose to see hope — not just for Bachman — but for anyone going through a crisis who has the support of a community like Des Moines’ Southside.
“I still feel like I’m the blessed one… I know that probably doesn’t make any sense but… this right here truly is a great day. It makes my heart complete.”
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