Texas Family Seeking Donations To Transport Hospitalized Aunt Home

Daytona Beach, FL - What was supposed to be a three day trip has since turned into a weeklong nightmare for a Texas family who is now trying to bring their sick aunt back home. Shala Allgeier said she and her family, including her mom Beverly Vinson and her aunt Tammy Lay, traveled to Daytona Beach from Wichita Falls as part of a three day vacation to swim with the dolphins, something her aunt has always dreamed about. "She’s obsessed with dolphins," said Shala to News Daytona Beach. "Her dream was to swim with the dolphins, but we never got to that point." By the second day, Tammy had to be hospitalized and intubated. According to the family, Tammy was taken to Halifax Health Medical Center where she remains in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Now, nine days later and short on funds, Shala and her family have no choice but to leave her aunt in Florida so the family can travel back home to Wichita Falls. "We’ve been through so much, it’s very traumatic," said Shala. "We came here for a vacation. You think you get to go home in three days and it just proves that anything can happen at any time." The family said it’s going to cost them around $15,000 to have her aunt transported back home to Texas, which is why the family is seeking donation. A GoFundMe page has been set up by a friend of the family and has so far garnered $40 in donations at the time of this writing. "She’s just amazing," said Shala. "She was born on July 4th and that really signifies her. She’s a little firecracker, she lights up life when she comes around." If you would like to help Shala and her family transport her aunt home, be sure to check out the family’s GoFundMe page (click here).