Community members are coming forward to help a family devastated by the sudden loss of a young woman, who died just five days after giving birth to her second child.
Patricia Selzer, 27, gave birth to her son Jack at Kelowna General Hospital on Jan. 22. She died unexpectedly on Jan. 27.
Selzer and her husband Paul also have a two-year-old daughter named Olivia.
Selzer was born and raised in Kelowna and worked as a nurse at Vernon Jubilee Hospital.
Her best friend Natalia Jamkowy has started a GoFundMe page to help support Selzer’s heartbroken family.
“All money raised will go to Paul, Olivia and Jack,” Jamkowy stated on the GoFundMe page. “As a newly widowed father of two young kids, Paul hopes to spend as much time as possible at home raising their children.”
In a message to Global News, Jamkowy said Selzer had no complications during her pregnancy or delivery.
“She actually left the hospital the day after she gave birth,” Jamkowy stated. “She started feeling ill that night. She had an infection and it spread aggressively. She went back to the hospital on the weekend and passed away shortly after being admitted.”
An autopsy is being conducted to determine the exact cause of death.
Jamkowy described Selzer as “the most wonderful, patient, selfless mother, wife, daughter, sister, and friend that anyone could ask for.”
Click here for a link to the GoFundMe page.
The target is $100,000. More than $60,000 has already been raised.