Paul Morris, longtime Harwood Unified Union School District employee and current co-director of food services is recovering after heart transplant surgery on January 23, according to school district superintendent Dr. Mike Leichliter who shared the information with permission from the family.
“Paul's wife Etienne just reached out to me. Since we talked last night Paul was cleared for surgery earlier today. The family is happy to report that "Paul did great!" They will soon get to see him. Etienne said that she would provide further updates as they are available in the coming days,” Leichliter wrote in an email on January 23.
Earlier this week Morris was moved to the highest level of urgency for a heart transplant and learned a heart would possibly become available which happened yesterday, according to Leichliter.
A number of people at HUHS, in the central office, and around the district have been in touch with Paul and his family throughout his illness. I know that Paul and his family are appreciative of this outpouring of love and support. I also know how caring and supportive our community is to those who are experiencing challenges in life. As a result, many people have been asking how our HUUSD community can support the Morris family during such an extraordinary situation,” he said.
"I am pleased to share one way that people in our community can assist Paul. Due to the level of care as well as the long timeframe for this procedure, his family has partially relocated to Boston to support Paul. As you can imagine, they are in the midst of figuring out the long-term costs of lifelong immunosuppressants, lost income, changes to insurance, etc.,” he added.
For more information visit this website created by his family:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-paul-through-a-lifesaving-heart-transplant
