Emergency Medical Fund: Kayla’s Relentless Battle My name is Summer Smith and I have started this fundraiser on behalf of my dear friend, Kayla Batson, to help get her out of extreme medical debt and pay for future surgeries, the medications she needs to live, and anything that will help improve her living situation. In 2016 Kayla endured a surgery with extreme complications.  These complications were a direct result of severe  malpractice and negligence, but due to the statute of limitations in MD, Kayla has unfortunately timed out of the window to pursue legal action. Because of this, Kayla was left with 4 untreated major infections/super-bugs: MRSA(Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus), another but different type of Staph Aureus strain and infection, Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, and Diphtheria (despite the fact that she was up to date on all vaccines, she became so immunosuppressed that she was able to contract this). By the time Kayla was able to secure a better medical provider/surgeon, she needed to be hospitalized. She was treated with a substantial amount of IV antibiotics to rid- all infections and superbugs, and has had to endure 13+ life-altering surgeries (including a double mastectomy, different transplants, major abdominal surgeries, hip &amp; femur surgeries on both legs, and operations on her spine- to name a few)*(as of 2021- 31 surgeries)*. These extensive surgeries have been ongoing over the past three years to repair the damage done to her body and the hardships of these surgeries have rendered her permanently disabled. *At the end of this page, per Kayla’s request, there are two quotes. 1. She asks that people PRIORITIZE reading these before they click the link to her medical pictures. 2. The second quote is a thank you directly from Kayla. In the beginning of 2018, on top of all the complications presented by these surgeries, Kayla started experiencing serious symptoms associated with disorders characterized by deterioration of the nervous system. She has already undergone a series of tests, the results of which are associated with certain neurological disorders. She will need to continue consulting with a team of specialists regarding a final diagnosis, but at the moment is unable to until her medical debt is somewhat alleviated. During these past three years, Kayla has experienced numerous tragedies and hardships while dealing with her extensive medical issues. In the spring of 2019, Kayla’s best friend passed away unexpectedly. Shortly after, Kayla was diagnosed with malignant melanoma in multiple areas of her body. She had to go through treatment, involving surgical procedures to remove the cancer, while still healing from the previous operations. Through everything, Kayla has tried to persevere, but the emotional, physical, and financial burdens have taken their toll, both on her and her family. Until this point, Kayla has not received any financial aid outside of her family. She has applied and is waiting on disability income, but the process for approval takes months, if not years, in most cases. This is an emergency situation as she needs to continue paying for the medications she needs to live, as well as travel expenses to get to her doctor’s appointments, since she no longer has a working vehicle. The initial goal we are asking for will go towards the medications she needs for the month, the copays for weekly doctor’s visits, and towards a used vehicle, so she can get to her appointments with more ease. Any additional funds will go towards her and her family’s $200k+ worth of medical debt, as well as ongoing medical expenses and imperative upcoming surgeries. Anything is greatly appreciated; I assure you. Kayla is a kind, gentle, and giving person, and it is heartbreaking to see her deal with all of this, especially at such a young age.  Any donations would be an immense relief. If you cannot donate or even if you can, please share this link. And please send positive thoughts, any type of support, and please pray over this situation for continued healing for Kayla. *We wanted to get this fundraiser out on Kayla’s 24th birthday, but we are going to update it later with further explanation of these surgeries, as it was a complicated situation. We may also be providing a link to photos of what went wrong during this initial surgery, but we will give extreme warnings in regards to those photos as they are graphic in nature. “Hi everyone! PLEASE READ BEFORE CLICKING ON THE LINK?! THIS IS **EXTREMELY IMPORTANT** AND ALSO *INFORMATIVE* AS HOW TO NAVIGATE IT. So the link below, once clicked on it, contains multiple folders. Currently there are 4 folders in there. The folders labeled: “(A-C)Months 1-3: Pictures” and “(D-E)Months 4-5: Pictures”, are pictures during about a 5 month period where I was given improper medical treatment to say in the least. These pictures are extremely GRAPHIC in nature and most of them are of my chest(yes all nipples are either not showing or covered up) because that’s where a lot of the infection and malpractice took place to begin with before the infection spread and ravaged other areas of my body. In one aspect, the pictures aren’t “that” private because I have had a double mastectomy. But on the other hand, this situation and this time period that I had in my life was not only extremely traumatic and painful – both physically and emotionally… But I have also lost every single thing that I had worked for in my life. In the future I will explain more about that in a separate folder(G), but in the meantime I felt the importance to state that because opening myself up in this way is putting me in a very vulnerable and raw position. While creating the folders, I had a very hard time going through each and every single picture of what I went through and still am going through. In my mind, I was reliving those times just looking at those pictures. So all of this to say… 1– I don’t think anyone donating would do this, however the link is open to the public… So I am asking that people do not abuse the fact that I am sharing such a vulnerable and painful time of my life with them. ‼️2- PLEASE REMEMBER THESE PHOTOS ARE INCREDIBLY GRAPHIC IN NATURE SO PLEASE DO NOT LOOK AT FOLDERS A-C and D-E, *UNLESS* YOU ARE CURIOUS AND/OR WANT TO.‼️Side tip- you might want to just scroll through the pictures first to see the progression of what happened.. because there are a lot of photos. But afterwards if you felt like clicking on every single one that is fine as well. Folder F: Right now nothing is in there but later when I get a chance, photos will be added of both surgical pictures from surgeries with new surgeons that repaired my body(and still will be). There will also be pictures of me recovering in the hospital and recovering out of the hospital. Folder G: This will contain a document with everything that has happened and my surgeries. Right now there is a little info in there but until, I either am physically able to write it myself- or have someone write it for me, the full story isn’t in there. The date of when it will be finished will be updated on this page when I have a better time estimate.” Thank you, Kayla M. Batson <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13uaEoe9kK4AtIsvTJCHS_m-I8_HLq4JT" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13uaEoe9kK4AtIsvTJCHS_m-I8_HLq4JT</a> **We will also be giving updates on Kayla's medical situation as things progress “Hi Everyone! The first thing I want to address is how incredibly thankful I am for the love, kindness, and absolutely incredible generosity that has been shown to me. This fundraiser was created by my loving, genuine, and amazing, close friend- Summer, out of true necessity for my survival. And while I do try my best to stay positive, things have seemed to be getting pretty dark lately. I have fought many medical battles(and honestly many other types of battles through my lifetime &amp; getting myself through the healing process from other very traumatic situations) so far and I still have many to come but when you(as in I) do not have the means/finances and you have exhausted all of your personal financial resources, and even exhausted the financial resources given by family who are trying to help... then both yourself and your family don’t know how to recover or come up with the means necessary to pay off the medical debt and the medical payments yet to come- in order for me to *truly survive*. Unfortunately, this is where my family and I are at right now and things can seem, and get, very hard.... and that light at the end of the tunnel- starts dimming at a very rapid pace. And I have fought so hard to survive already and I’m NOT ready to stop fighting, so now I need more help. I want to especially thank Summer Smith for creating this amazing fundraiser, and thank everyone who has contributed thus far, as well as those who will contribute after this is posted, either through- donations, posts/shares on social media platforms, prayers, support, positivity/positive thoughts, and doing one of those things or many of those things. Each and everything you all are doing, is helping to bring the brightness back to the end of the tunnel. It doesn’t mean I won’t still have to fight my medical battles, or that I won't still experience severe pain, and also have a bit of fear(especially when I still have SO so many more surgeries left to have)... but it does mean that I will possibly be given the privilege to keep fighting my medical battles which ultimately, will hopefully, lead to my survival for many years to come. Each and every one of you has given me a priceless gift, hope. And if all goes as planned medically, you have also assisted in giving me my life. I will FOREVER be grateful to everyone, regardless of the way you have shown your support, ALL of the support helps. Thank you so very, very much.” With Love and Endless Appreciation, Kayla M. Batson

Emergency Medical Fund: Kayla’s Relentless BattleMy name is Summer Smit… Summer Smith needs your support for Emergency Medical Fund: Kayla’s Relentless Battle

Fundraising Team

Emergency Medical Fund: Kayla’s Relentless Battle

Anonymous

Lauren McIntyre

Walt & Toni Chrush

Shaleen Howard

Eric Rubinsyein

Lauren Barlass

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