You Can Help a Sick Newborn Come Home to Her Family. Here’s How!
by James Coulter
A newborn baby who has already endured four surgeries and five blood transfusions cannot come home with her mother until their house has central heat and air.
Her family will be selling barbecue dinners to help raise the funds necessary to bring their newest member home safe and sound.
A barbecue fundraiser for Baby Brinleigh will be hosted on Sat., Aug. 26 at 610 Dundee Road. Pre-orders are currently available until Thurs. Aug. 24.
The menu includes pulled pork sandwich with two sides for $12, sliced pork plate with two sides for $12, a brisket sandwich with two sides for $15, and lasagna and garlic bread for $13.
Shortly after being born, Brinleigh was diagnosed with ventricular septal defect (VSD), a genetic defect where there is a hole in the septum that separates the heart’s two main chambers. She also has two deformations in the aortic artery in her heart, 4P Trisomy Syndrome, and 2Q37 deletions syndrome.
Her condition has required her to undergo four surgeries, including a tracheotomy, to be placed on life support to prevent her lungs from collapsing, and to receive a G-tube that allows her to consume milk.
Brinleigh required heart surgery at only one week old on Mon. July 24 and was intubated several days afterwards. She did well several hours off the respirator until her right lung began to collapse. She was placed on life support again and a pick line through her jugular artery. Her left lung then began to collapseon Thursday, and an X-ray discovered fluid in her lung.
“It has been a long and stressful two weeks,” her mother, Kristy Carver, said. “Bad news just keeps getting piled on me. I haven’t been ignoring anyone checking in. I’ve just been at the hospital with Brinleigh and trying to wrap my head around things.”
Carver was presented with two options by her doctors. The first option is that Brinleigh can be taken off of life support to see if she can survive without it, and if not, if she exhibits signs of struggle, she will be placed back on life support and scheduled for a tracheotomy.
The second option, as Carver explained, “is she gets taken off the support, and fails. The doctors will make her as comfortable as they can until her body can’t handle anymore and her heart stops.”
Because of her tracheotomy, Little Brinleigh cannot return home with her mother unless their home has central air and heating. Their home is currently cooled with window units that can harbor mold and bacteria that can be harmful and life threatening to Baby Brinleigh.
Her family wants her to return home to grow bigger and stronger for her open heart surgery to repair the other narrowing and the VSD.
“With this fundraiser, I am hoping that there will be a great turn out and I can get central heat and air installed in the home so she can come home for the first time,” Carver said. “One thing that has kept me going through this hard time is my kids. She has two siblings who are excited for her to come home.”
To place a pre-order for a barbecue dinner, please call or text Kristy Carver at 863-251-2353, or
Nicole at 863-837-9616.
