Englewood Father Dies After Living With Mold Caused By Hurricane Ian

ENGLEWOOD, FL — The community is rallying around the family of a 26-year-old Englewood father who died after being exposed to toxic mold that grew in their home following damages from Hurricane Ian.

Christian Childers suffered anaphylactic cardiac arrest on Christmas Eve and was rushed to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where he was put on life support, according to a GoFundMe fundraiser organized by Lorie Peterson, a family friend.

On Monday, she said that he will be donating his organs, writing, “He will live on in others. Hopefully a parent, spouse or other family members will get the call they have been waiting for. Organ donation is a wonderful thing. Our sadness turns into someone’s prayers and happiness.”

As of Wednesday morning, nearly $12,000 was raised, so far, for Childers’ family — his partner Kendra Elliott, their three children and her elderly mother.

During the hurricane, which battered the Gulf Coast at the end of September, a pipe broke behind a wall in their home, causing the toxic mold to grow, Peterson wrote.

The family was denied help by FEMA and the Red Cross because their home’s roof was intact, so the space was considered “livable,” making them ineligible for assistance, she said.

The house remains filled with toxic mold and much of the funds raised through GoFundMe will be used to find an RV or other housing for the family.

GoFundMe is a Patch promotional partner.