Submitted photo Mikaela and Matt Bennett, who a spaghetti dinner fundraiser is being held for following their struggles with HHT and AVMs.

A Warren area family is facing hardship after tragedy.

Mikaela and Matt Bennett were pregnant with twins. Mikalea was born with a rare disease that she did not know about, as symptoms did not show until she was pregnant. When she began to get nose bleeds and her legs swelled, they went to the hospital.

On Dec. 21, 2022, she was admitted to the hospital at 24 weeks pregnant with a rare condition known as HHT with AVMs. HHT causes some blood vessels to not develop properly, including the possibility of some not forming with capillaries. AVM stands for arteriovenous malformation, where an abnormal connection is formed between the arteries and the veins. This is usually present in the brain and the spine and present at birth. If AVMs rupture it can cause bleeding in the brain and spinal cords.

“In December the hospital detected it in her own body,” Matt Bennett’s aunt Karin McAdoo said. “It went undetected until she was pregnant with the twins. They also detected an embolism in her lungs which was bleeding, and a lot of other complications.”

After seeing many different types of specialists and baby doctors, McAdoo said Mikaela had an emergency C-Section at 30 weeks pregnant.

She gave birth to a boy and a girl — Madalynn and Myles on Feb. 1. McAdoo said Mikaela was not able to see or hold them and they had to be immediately transferred to a different hospital, as they both had AVMs detected as well. The baby girl passed away four days later, but Myles Bennett is still here. McAdoo said Madalynn passed away at a different hospital than the one Mikaela was at, and that Mikaela never got to hold her daughter while she was alive.

“During the C-Section Mikaela coded, but was brought back,” McAdoo said. “Myles has AVMs on his brain. He may end up needing a liver transplant, which is scary for a baby. That’s not something they can do until he is six months old. He is only three months old now.”

The Bennetts have come home since the birth, but have had to travel back and forth to the hospital in Pittsburgh for appointments. McAdoo said at least three different hospitals have been involved in this situation. Matt Bennett did not work from Dec. 21 when they went to the hospital to April 12 when they were released. He had to ask his job to be able to come back, and the only income during that time was donations from people.

The spaghetti dinner — put on by the organization Brother’s By Choice — will be held on Sunday, May 21 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Celoron Legion, Herman Kent Post 777, 23 Jackson Ave., Jamestown. The price for the dinner is $10, and children five and under are free. Besides the dinner there will be a DJ, bake sale, and basket giveaway.

“We’ve had some amazing donations,” McAdoo said. “We’ve had a queen mattress set donated from Jamestown Mattress. There’s the bake sale, and a lot of other donations, including a grill. There’s a lot of nice stuff.”

Gift certificates and baskets will also be available.

A Go Fund Me for the Bennett family can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/f/cxb357-the-bennett-family.

McAdoo said while there is a long road ahead, the family has been staying strong during this hard time.

“They are an amazing family,” McAdoo said. “They are strong. Their faith has kept them going.”