A few years ago, I was given a shopping bag made from up-cycled plastic sacks. As I used the bag to schlep groceries and more, I grew a serious attachment to it. Not only did I want more of these utilitarian bags, but I was curious about the woman who had created them.

I tracked down Vera LeTendre Heuer in Bowdoin. As I sat with her in her comfortable living room, she showed me bins full of carefully folded plastic strips, finished bags, and other craft projects in progress for the St. John’s Christmas Fair and other upcoming craft events.

Heuer developed her popular pattern for the crocheted plastic bags during her 13 years as a Girl Scout leader for two different troops. My idea regarding a story about Heuer’s craft ended up taking a turn I wasn’t expecting when I realized just how exceptional Heuer’s industriousness was.

At six weeks of age, Heuer, now 42, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a disease that usually takes people’s lives before they reach full adulthood. In 1976, Heuer, who was raised in Connecticut, was chosen as the state’s poster child for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF), which was then the official charity of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Heuer even got to meet the U.S. Men’s Tennis Team.

Although she’s quite physically limited, Heuer has a spark that’s totally contagious, and her determination to lead as normal a life as possible is inspirational.

She not only made it through those crucial teen years, thanks in part to the support of CFF and ATP, but went on to marry Tony Heuer at the age of 20. When she was 22, she gave birth to a healthy daughter, Naomi, who is now a 20-year-old college student. Naomi lives with her parents and shares transportation and other caretaking responsibilities with her father and Heuer’s mother, Paula LeTendre, as Heuer’s declining health prevents her from driving or being left alone. Heuer proudly stated, “Naomi has been my main helper since she was 3 years old.”

In a way, crafting has saved her. Learning to crochet when she was 15, Heuer has kept occupied while waiting in doctors’ offices and dealing with nebulizer treatments. “Crocheting started out as a hobby to make some ‘fun money,’” said Heuer. Now most of that cash goes toward her increasing medical bills.

Heuer rarely complains.

“I just don’t have time for that,” she said.

Even though her poor health, which includes CF-related diabetes, has impacted her life considerably, she chooses to stay positive and focus on the future. “My biggest goal is to be here for my grandchildren,” she said. She barely comments about being attached to an oxygen tank 24/7 for the past two years, or having to stay in an air-conditioned room on warm summer days.

Instead, Heuer talks hopefully about the plans for her double-lung transplant. She has been on the waiting list for nearly a year now. According to a news release issued by Emily Joyner, director of Communications at National Foundation for Transplants, even with health insurance, Heuer faces significant medical expenses related to the $800,000 surgery. This includes years of follow up care and high-priced anti-rejection medications that are critical to her survival.

Heuer will receive help with these monumental costs through the National Foundation of Transplants (NFT), a nonprofit organization that assists transplant patients with raising funds to pay for medical expenses. Claire Prince, an NFT fundraising consultant, wrote, “NFT is happy to be part of Vera’s amazing story as we help her raise the funds she needs to focus on her health and happiness, not on soaring medical bills.”

Heuer’s aunt, Pepper Heuer of Lewiston, is the fundraising chairperson and the primary caregiver after the surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. “If, for any reason the surgery doesn’t happen, the money raised will go to someone else for transplantrelated expenses,” Heuer explained.

Heuer’s outlook couldn’t be more optimistic. She continues to focus on crocheting one bag, one holiday ornament, one day at a time. “Some people refer to me as ‘The Bag Lady,’” Heuer joked. “And sometimes I just tell people I’m an ‘old hooker.’”

Heuer, her family members and friends participate in several fundraising events. She will be selling her crocheted bags and other crafts at Holy Trinity Church on Frost Hill Road in Lisbon Falls on Nov. 23 and at St. John’s Annual Holiday Fair in Brunswick on Dec. 7.

To be part of Vera Heuer’s story, you can visit www.transplants.org and select “Find an NFT patient.” If you prefer to mail your contribution, please send it to NFT Maine Transplant Fund, 5350 Poplar Ave., Suite 430, Memphis, TN 38119. Be sure to write “in honor of Vera Heuer” on your check’s comment line. You can find more information at www.facebook.com/NewLungsFor Vera- Heuer.

KAREN SCHNEIDER, of West Bath, is a freelance writer. She can be reached at iwrite33@comcast.net.