PHILADELPHIA, PA (September 5, 2005) -- Three-year-old Aamiyah Marsh is the perfect example of the Hurricane Katrina victim Awake in America seeks to help through its just-launched Operation Restore CPAP.

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According to a story in the September 3 edition of the Houston Chronicle, young Aamiyah has sleep apnea, as well as a tracheotomy valve so she can be attached to her breathing monitor. Her foster mother, Jo Ann Vallery, told the newspaper, "Nobody but God has kept that child alive these past days." The reporter noted that the child, who was rescued by an Army helicopter crew from atop a parking garage, "looked exhausted but otherwise healthy after six days stranded in the flooded city."

In just the first 30 hours following Hurricane Katrina's landfall, Awake In America received more than a dozen calls for assistance in replacing equipment of individuals who left their now water-filled homes under emergency conditions. Some of these individuals left their homes in New Orleans, as instructed, under the mandatory evacuation orders. Many people thought Hurricane Katrina would be like past hurricanes, and that they'd be home in several hours. With that thinking, they left their belongings -- and CPAP equipment -- behind.

"The destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina is unfathomable for anyone who has not experienced it first-hand," said Michele Narcavage, president of Awake In America. "The images being broadcast around the world should give anyone severe heartache. Little Aamiyah's story is heartbreaking, but illustrates why we launched Operation Restore CPAP on August 30. Listening to those individuals who have already found shelter where electricity and other utilities are available was heart-wrenching. There was no way Awake In America could not take immediate action. These people are already in misery, and now, with their apnea no longer being treated and potentially causing them additional health issues, we had to react immediately."

According to July estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau, an estimated 9.46 million people lived in coastal counties along the Gulf of Mexico -- an area stretching more than 50,000 square miles from Louisiana to the Florida Keys. Sleep researchers estimate that around seven percent of the population suffers from obstructive sleep apnea. Based on that statistic, that means there are potentially 587,990 apneics in the Gulf Coast alone.

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