Fundraising to support 14-year-old Kaytlyn McKibbon is still going strong.
The Tillsonburg teen, who has bilateral Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS), requires two major surgeries. Due to the complexity and severity of her condition, her family was unable to find an Ontario surgeon willing to perform the life-saving surgeries.
“Normally TOS just pinches the nerve and occasionally will pinch the vein, but hers is pinching the nerve, the vein and the artery,” said Kaytlyn’s mother Kim McKibbon. “So one wrong step in the surgery and you cut an artery and the patient can bleed out. So the surgeons here are saying, ‘No, I do not feel confident taking your case.’ It’s what we kept hearing from everybody.”
A willing and expert TOS surgeon was located at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, but the price is steep. It will cost the family nearly $300,000 CAD.
A gofundme page (https://gofund.me/f6d485e2) for the Glendale High School Grade 9 student was created earlier this month to help pay for medical expenses.
As of Monday, $156,470 had been raised through gofundme, direct e-transfers ([email protected]), authorized family and friend fundraisers, community donations, and substantial donations from congregations at St. Paul’s United and First Baptist churches in Tillsonburg.
For people who do not want to make an online donation, they can be left at the St. Paul’s dropoff box (identify it for Kaytlyn).
Family-approved fundraisers are listed on the Facebook group page Help Kaytlyn Save Her Arms and Lungs.
“It’s just incredible,” said Kim McKibbon. “It’s unbelievable how much help we’ve had, it’s really blown us away. People we don’t even know, it’s absolutely incredible how everybody is so helpful.”
The fundraising efforts of Angela McKibbon and family have also been exceptional, said Kim.
“Angela and her sisters have raised a lot of money – they are doing bottle drives (raising $1,000 in Dorchester) and they are doing an online auction (Friday morning on a public group Facebook page – Online Auction for Kaytlyn – with 520 members), and collecting cash donations from different organizations. It’s been absolutely incredible what Ange’s sisters have done.”
At the fundraising mid-point, they have enough for the first surgery. The operation has not been scheduled yet but it could happen late April or some time in May, depending on pre-op testing that first needs to be completed here in Ontario.
“They are still saying they would like to fit her in by the end of April if they can, if they can get test results ‘in a timely fashion’ as they put it. It will probably be May because in the US they do things (testing) much faster.”
Kim said Kaytlyn is excited by the prospect of surgery – and subsequent healing.
“Yes, she is now excited. Glendale High School made a video of her yesterday… and they are going to be doing a ‘Wear Blue – Support Kaytlyn Drive’ Thursday at Glendale.”
There will be a fundraising bottle/can drive Saturday, March 5 in Tillsonburg. The dropoff is at 16 Dogwood Drive. Organizers say they will be there all day – drop off your donations in the driveway and they will take care of them. If bringing bags, make sure they are clear plastic bags.
“Thank you to everybody, it’s just been absolutely amazing,” Kim concluded.