Aid Leyland's Healing Journey and Family’s Financial Needs

On St. Patrick’s Day, Monday, March 17th, a 9-year-old little boy, Leyland, his two little sisters, Everleigh and Lainey, and their parents, Shelbie and Taylor, set off to enjoy a Monday that their dad, Taylor, had off from work. They went to Grand Rapids where they started out by going to the Apple Store to get Leyland's iPad fixed. After that, they stopped at Trader Joe’s, a couple of thrift stores, and then Krispy Kreme for some St. Patty's Day-themed donuts. Finally, they headed back home. Unfortunately, when they were nearly halfway home, Leyland began to have anxiety, which triggered a severe asthma attack. His rescue inhaler was not helping, so they rushed home to use his nebulizer and called 911. By the time they got home, the nebulizer was useless. Leyland was no longer able to breathe on his own. Paramedics and EMTs arrived at their home and immediately placed Leyland on oxygen and began breathing for him. He was transported to Trinity Hospital in Muskegon where the decision was made to intubate. Leyland's oxygen saturation (the percentage of oxygen in his blood) had plummeted into the 30s. A further decision was made that Leyland needed to be transported to Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids via helicopter. When Leyland arrived at DeVos, the whole family was in an absolute panic, including Leyland's two little sisters, aged 5 and 1, who had witnessed everything to this point. Leyland's family was sat in a waiting room while hospital staff worked to stabilize him. Eventually, Leyland's oxygen level began to rise; however, hospital staff had other concerns. Leyland's blood pressure, along with many other vitals and labs, were in serious need of attention. After nearly 48 hours of intubation, heavy sedation including being paralyzed, and a laundry list of meds, Leyland's family received good news: Leyland was stable and doing well enough to remove the ventilator. Staff began to slowly lower his sedation, and by Wednesday at 2:15 pm, Leyland was off the ventilator and breathing 100% on his own. He was awake! While the family is celebrating their son pulling through, they now face even more. Hours after removing the breathing tube, Leyland began to act extremely confused, at one point attacking his dad and screaming, “I don’t recognize you!” Leyland has now been diagnosed with a condition known as ICU Delirium. This condition is fairly common in ICU patients who have experienced extreme trauma such as intubation, heavy sedation, paralytics, and the experience of basically falling asleep at home and waking up in a hospital days later with a machine breathing for you. Taylor is the sole income for the family while Shelbie is a stay-at-home mom. Refusing to leave his son’s side, Taylor has been forced to use FMLA for time off work. This is unfortunately an unpaid leave, and the family’s expenses will soon begin to weigh on them.

Our family has been in similar situations with unexpected time away from work due to our children’s medical conditions and know firsthand how difficult and stressful this can be both mentally and financially.

If you have the means to help this family, please, please consider.