Sara Long, a 26-year-old woman from Savannah, who went into hospice care after battling rare kidney disease for years, passed away on December 12, 2024. Her death was made public by her husband, Justin Long, in a post he put out on the GoFundMe page set up on behalf of their daughter, Riley Jean.
"December 12, 2024 at 10:20pm Sara Long passed away. I held her in my arms and told her I loved her as she took her last breath(...) Thank you, Sara for giving me the absolute best 7 years of my life and the most beautiful daughter. You will NEVER be forgotten. I love you."
The GoFundMe set up for "Celebration of Life costs, cremation, trust fund account for our daughter" had a goal of $15k, but as of December 19, 2024, the GoFundMe has more than 29k dollars.
Sara Long and her battle with a rare kidney disease
According to People Magazine's exclusive, Sara Long's life since she was thirteen was about visiting hospitals, medicines, dialysis, and more because of her kidney disease.
In her interview with the outlet, she stated that she had been thinking a lot about the idea of a 'good death' and came to the conclusion that spending the time in hospice with the people she loves and cherishes would be what she wants, but at the time she felt conflicted because she did not want her loved ones to watch her die.
According to WJCL, Sara was diagnosed with a rare disease, Henoch-Schönlein purpura, at the age of 13. Her condition moved to her kidney, and six years later her mother donated her kidney, but unfortunately, her body rejected the organ. Later in November 2023, she was offered a kidney by her best friend, but the friend was diagnosed with lupus, and the transplant couldn't be done.
On December 9, local news channels reported that she had decided to enter hospice care and was preparing to say goodbye to loved ones. Sara openly discussed with People Magazine why she wanted to be admitted into hospice care.
"It was really just not something that I was interested in living like or pursuing … [I would be] just reduced to a shell. I didn't want to do that, and so that's kind of how I made that decision ultimately."
The thirteen years of her life being full of machines and medicines were probably what gave Sara Long a very "tranquil" way of looking at death. In an exclusive with People Magazine, she expressed what she felt regarding her last days and death (which, according to reports, came a week earlier than anticipated).
Sara Long is more than just her illness, even though she deserves recognition for her tenacious fight against it. According to her husband, Justin Long, she was also a successful businesswoman, kind, caring, and the mother of four-year-old Riley Jean. He stated,
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"Sara Long can't be described by one word, sentence, paragraph, or book. Not even the entire Encyclopedia collection can scratch the surface of this beautiful woman."
A hope chest is set up for Riley to help her remember her mother when she grows up. Justin Long also asked people who want to send a letter talking about Sarah for Riley's hope chest to contact him with their email.
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