When Anderson Cooper, then host of the daytime TV show “Anderson Live,” learned that young Jaelyn Anderson needed hospital-quality air to breathe at home following her successful heart transplant, he turned to IQAir, the world leader in medical-grade air filtration.

Thieves broke into a van on Valentine’s Day and stole the money Jaelyn’s family was going to receive to buy an air purifier for their home in Port Richey, Florida.¹ When Cooper heard about it, he knew he had to act.

Raising money for a new heart

Five months after Jaelyn was born, she experienced problems breathing. After being taken to the hospital, she was diagnosed with the genetic disorder myocarditis, causing her heart to expand and her right lung to collapse. She urgently required a heart transplant to live and was placed on a donation waiting list.²

Jaelyn’s extended family sought to raise money for the family’s living expenses and to help prepare the home for Jaelyn’s recovery in case she received a suitable heart donation. The home needed to be remodeled for her recovery, including the removal of suspected mold, rotten wood, and indoor air contaminants. Jaelyn’s health would also require clean, medical-grade air to help make her living environment safe.

After word spread about Jaelyn’s needs and the family’s growing healthcare expenses, donations were collected by from around the state. As the donations were being delivered on Valentines Day, someone broke into the delivery van as the driver and crew were stopped for lunch. $3,000 in statewide donations were stolen.

News quickly spread about the theft – until word reached Anderson Cooper.

The gift of whole-house clean air

Cooper had his production team call IQAir President Frank Hammes and the IQAir Clean Air Team to help transform Jaelyn’s home into a clean-air sanctuary.

“I told them we’d be happy to help,” said Frank Hammes. “But the Clean Air Team doesn’t cut corners. On hearing of the family, we had reason to believe there may be additional environmental problems with the home. We told them we would donate the air cleaning system, but only if the Clean Air Team could do a full indoor air quality inspection of the home.”

Just after the heart transplant was completed, Cooper went on the air live and announced to Jaelyn’s family that a new PerfectProwould be installed at no cost to the family. Jaelyn’s parents were surprised, moved, and grateful.

IQAir’s Clean Air Team installed a PerfectPro whole-house air purifier, along with a HealthPro Plus for Jaelyn’s room, and effectively turned Jaelyn’s house into one of the healthiest homes in America at the time.

To ensure that Jaelyn’s recovery at home continued safely, an air quality monitor was also installed in the Anderson home. The air quality monitor provided her parents with continuous monitoring of the air quality in the house.

While installing the PerfectPro, the Clean Air Team found that fears of mold in the home were well-founded.

“It was really a worst-case scenario,” says Hammes. “There was toxic mold hidden inside every wall, in the ceilings, even beneath the carpet and cabinetry. To the naked eye everything looked perfectly fine, but our advanced scientific testing uncovered a severe indoor air quality problem that could have severely compromised Jaelyn’s health.”

The Clean Air Team also enlisted the aid of Habitat for Humanity to strip the home completely down to studs. All drywall, flooring, carpet, cabinetry, and ceilings were removed so that the entire home could be remediated for mold. Then, the Clean Air Team set out to design for Jaelyn what would truly be one of America’s healthiest home.

Hard tile surfaces replaced the old carpeting that once acted as a collection point for dust, allergens, and other environmental irritants. Only special materials were used that did not off-gas chemicals. Back to New Heating and Cooling in nearby Homosassa, Florida, handled the installation of the PerfectPro.

So Cal Air Dynamics in Tarzana, California donated air conditioning and ductwork, helping the Clean Air Team give Jaelyn the healthy home she needed.

The finishing touch came when the Clean Air Team arrived onsite to test the air in the house before Jaelyn returned home. “The monitoring station indicated the air in the home was at 95% purity and climbing within just an hour of activating her air cleaning system,” Hammes said, beaming.

The takeaway

With the PerfectPro installed, Jaelyn’s family found comfort in knowing that Jaelyn could breathe clean air, helping make Jaelyn’s entire house one of the healthiest homes in America.

See how Jaelyn’s parents reacted to the news that they received one of America’s healthiest homes.