Help Baby Zaliyah and Her Family

Meet Zaliyah Della Tailor-Groce!

 

Our beautiful baby girl was born on October 14, 2021 by way of emergency c-cection due to a hemmorage.

 

On what was an otherwise normal day, Jaelene (Zaliyah's mom) began to notice a lack of movement in her tummy from Zaliyah. While there was still some movement, Jaelene's intuition kicked in and her and Rob (Zaliyah's dad) decided it was best to go get checked out.

 

Upon arriving at HSC Women's Hospital, the nurse brought Jaelene into the exam room to check Zaliyah's heartrate - which was found to be alarmingly low. Everything from that point on was a blur and happened so fast (for Jaelene especially). She was rushed into the operating room and was unconscious undergoing a crash c-section in a matter of minutes.

 

Baby Zaliyah was unresponsive at first, but thankfully, the doctors managed to revive her. However, Zaliyah had experienced a distinct lack of oxygen to the brain, as well as other complications that resulted in a diagnosis of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy or HIE. After a number of scary days of specialized therapy meant to help mitigate further injury, the doctors performed an MRI to see what the effects would be on baby Zaliyah. The results of the MRI showed signifcant damage to all parts of her brain, most of which were described as permanent. Notwithstanding, there was an ongoing level of uncertainty surrounding her current condition and whether she would make it.

 

As you can imagine, this situation hit us extremely hard and resulted in us hitting the lowest of lows emotionally. It tested our love, patience and resolve, BUT, Zaliyah showed us her fighting spirit and managed to pull through. For that, we are forever grateful.

 

Zaliyah is as strong as strong can be and has fought through a lot in a short period of time - just to survive. Now, with the help of the fantastic NICU team at HSC Women's Hospital, Zaliyah is stable enough to be home with her family.

 

However, home for Zaliyah and our family will be different. She will inevitably experience developmental delays and will require permanent support and monitoring. What was originally planned to be a six month maternity leave for Jaelene will need to be extended indefinitely in order to provide Zaliyah with the love and care she needs to develop. Despite having to navigate through a mountain of confusion and uncertainty (both emotionally and financially), we want nothing more than to be there for our daughter and family.

 

Jaelene ran a small business as a sole proprietor. As a result, Jaelene was/is not eligible for Employment Insurance benefits. As a family relying on a dual income to live and pay the bills, losing out on Jaelene's income is crushing. Making ends meet will be incredibly challenging and present an extremey rocky path to stability - especially considering the future needs and requirements that will arise from the mental and physical challenges that Zaliyah will inevitably endure.

 

As hard as everything has been, it pains us further to put this out there. This is something that no one ever imagines for their child or for their family.

We know there are many families out there that have or are going through difficult circumstances and that there are many important causes that need and deserve support. So, if you choose to support Zaliyah and our family in any way, we THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts.

**We will be forwarding a portion of all donations recieved to charities aimed at helping children like Zaliyah and their families.

Below are some links to information on HIE and alternative donation options.

Childrens Hospital Foundation of Manitoba 

https://donate.hopeforhie.org/donate 

Ronald McDonald House Manitoba