‘I’ve been waiting’: Girl receives heart transplant before the holidays
By Megan Matthews
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LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (WLKY) — Eight-year-old Skylin from New Albany is set to celebrate Christmas at home after receiving a life-saving heart transplant.
Skylin has been a patient at Norton Children’s Hospital for 236 days, spending 201 of those waiting for a new heart.
Skylin’s mother, Kaylyn Williams, initially took her to the hospital in April for what she thought was a respiratory illness. Instead, they were told Skylin was suffering from end-stage heart failure.
“She had hours to live. They told me that Skylin was the sickest patient at that time in the ICU. She had hours, if not days, if not hours, to live,” Williams said.
Dr. Sarah Wilkens, Skylin’s cardiologist, made the critical decision to insert a temporary heart pump, making Skylin the youngest and smallest person in the world to receive such a device.
“It worked really well to kind of help, I think, save her life—to get her to transplant,” Wilkens said.
Throughout Skylin’s hospital stay, her family never lost hope. They visited her daily, holding onto the belief that the call for a new heart would eventually come.
“It’s probably the hardest thing we’ve ever had to experience in life is the waiting. The waiting is very, very, very difficult because you never know what each day brings,” Williams said.
That long-awaited call came on Nov. 22, when Skylin’s new heart arrived.
“I’ve been waiting a very, very long time,” Skylin said.
“It’s given her such a better quality of life that I could have never dreamed was possible. Because when we first got here, she was so close to death,” Williams said.
After just 18 days of recovery, Skylin is now up and walking, eager to return to the activities she loves.
Skylin will be starting rehab at Frazier Rehab Institute, which she is expected to complete just before Christmas.
This holiday season, Skylin and her family say they have much to be thankful for, celebrating the gift of life and the generous heart that made it possible.
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