INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Cynthia and her husband William.
When her
granddaughter needed help after a severe accident, Tisdale was there
The mother of three and grandmother of 11 was at her side during physical therapy for weeks in the past year, Cynthia's son Recie wrote.It
was as if her love and support helped will her granddaughter back to health, and Recie said his daughter can walk again.Yet before Cynthia
Tisdale, 63, was killed Friday alongside nine others at Santa Fe High School outside Houston, she had already settled into the role of
caregiver to her husband William, who has battled a terminal lung condition for years
In her death, and with the grim notoriety it brought, she may have cleared a path to get an experimental treatment for William.William, 67,
was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a degenerative condition that scars the lungs and eventually closes them off to oxygen
flow, causing the patient to become progressively frail.Life expectancy is about five years for the condition
Doctors gave William up to 18 months in December, but he was still denied a lung transplant, his son wrote.William's health had already been
But Cynthia was always there for them in the small town of Dickinson, Texas."She has cared for my father every day of their lives," Recie
wrote in a statement provided to The Washington Post, even as she recently became a substitute teacher at Santa Fe High School.Recie
believed he found a long shot, last ditch effort: Experimental and unproven stem-cell treatment in Dallas.He launched a GoFundMe campaign on
March 29, in the name of his father, to pay for what insurance could not."With the procedure I have a chance for more time with your momma
(my wife of 47 years), my children, and my wonderful grandchildren who I so much want to see grow up as much as possible," William wrote to
his son Recie, according to the funding campaign page
"I fear without this I won't make it to see 2019."Santa Fe High School had won a statewide award for its safety program.Such stem-cell
treatments have exploded nationwide in recent years, but they are not scientifically proven
Federal regulators have not approved such treatments, and many skeptics call the clinics offering them snake-oil salesmen preying on
desperate patients.Researchers say that although there are promising signs that stem cells may one day be used to treat intractable
conditions and diseases, they are still years away from developing effective and proven therapies in most cases.And yet, the Tisdales placed
their hopes in the fundraising campaign, hoping to watch it roll toward a goal of $13,000 for the treatment.Instead, it was a crawl
Just $1,213 came in just over seven weeks, GoFundMe said, a modest draw that would supplement Cynthia's moonlighting job
She worked at night as a server at a local restaurant to help cover medical costs, the Monitor reported.Meanwhile, William's condition
deteriorated.Then, on Friday, a student entered the high school where Cynthia was assisting an art teacher, carrying a .38 revolver and a
Cynthia never walked out of the school.Her son Recie, a detective in nearby League City, arrived to identify the body.Stories of Cynthia's
dedication to her family and William's terminal condition went viral, and in that amplification, the campaign flourished.In an update, Recie
wrote the loss was unbearable for his father, but the alert pings announcing donations gave him some comfort.By Sunday, the family
recognized that the pathway to treatment was being built by strangers across the world who were horrified by Cynthia's death
With more than $50,000 raised as of Monday afternoon, the family's funeral cost and bills are covered, Recie wrote."We are still in such
disbelief that anything good can come out of such a horrific event
my mom always made good come out of bad situations though and this is no different for her," he wrote on the campaign page.And in a
surprising twist, the funds may even be enough to opt for a lung transplant, he added.Donations have come from nearly all 50 states and 22
countries, GoFundMe spokeswoman Kate Cichy told The Post on Monday
Before the killings, donors had contributed from just six states, she said.The family has said had differing opinions on why Cynthia took
the substitute teaching job after two decades of paralegal work
Her brother-in-law John Tisdale said she took on both jobs to help boost income, the Monitor reported.But Recie told The Post she took the
job because it was her nature to help others
"She didn't have to do it
She did it because she loved it," he said.Recie and his father William could not be reached for comment for this story.But in an earlier
brief call with The Post's Nick Anderson, William Tisdale offered his thoughts on his wife - whose generosity is now known well outside
Texas."She was a good woman," he said
