Kyleigh Kista is getting the surgery needed to save her life thanks to donors raising R5 million to help pay for her surgery in Boston, USA.
South Africa (09 February 2022) – 4-year-old Kyleigh ‘Milana’ Kista was diagnosed with a Complex Congenital Heart Defect at birth and requires urgent, life-saving treatment, which can be done in the United States. South Africans have rallied and, together, raised the R5-million needed to pay for the life-saving surgery.
Kyleigh’s condition, known as Tetralogy of Fallot with Pulmonary Atresia, VSD and Mapca, was first described by Cardio-Thoracic surgeons as a ‘monster in her chest.’
Kyleigh has already endured three open-heart surgeries along with countless non-invasive procedures that have done little to remedy her little heart. The family received news from her medical team that they now had minimal options.
The first option was to wait for Kyleigh’s heart and lungs to start failing, which would then qualify her for a heart and lung transplant. The catch with this option is that organ donors are very limited, and this kind of surgery has never been done on a paediatric patient. The risks were very high.
The second, more viable but very costly option was to get Kyleigh to the Boston Children’s Hospital in the USA, where doctors could perform an innovative surgery that could save her. The family reached out to the hospital and found the good news they were searching for.
The only catch with getting treatment overseas is the cost. The family needed to raise R5 million so that Kyleigh would qualify for treatment in Boston. The funds would need to be paid over before leaving South Africa. Then the hospital could issue a motivational letter to aid Kyleigh’s visa process.
Thankfully, the R5 million was raised and paid over to the hospital. Kyleigh’s medical visa has been approved, and her surgery is set for the 24th of March, 2022.
by 