Two of the greatest people I know, Lauren and Colton Helgoth, are currently facing every parents worst nightmare. Their baby girl, Scottlyn, was born on November 21st 2024. She was born with a heart defect, which they knew was going to require surgery to repair around 3 months of age. However, things unfortunately took a turn for the worst on Sunday (12/22), and their medical team decided it was necessary to LifeFlight Scottlyn from Lincoln to Children’s Hospital in Omaha to receive the specialized care she needs. While they know they have a long road ahead of them, a timeline on when they can expect to return back home is still undetermined. At this time, they are fairly certain Scottlyn will remain at Children’s Hospital for at least a couple more weeks, potentially longer depending on what their medical team decides to do moving forward.

As you can imagine, Lauren and Colton’s main priority right now is being by their baby girls side as she receives care. We would like to put this together to help alleviate some of the financial burden that has been placed on their shoulders as a result of this tragedy so they can focus all of their energy on being by Scottlyn’s side—as any parent would wish.

Please do not feel obligated to donate, as they surely would appreciate thoughts and prayers for their baby girls health just as much. However, should you feel inclined to donate, I’m sure they would appreciate it greatly. Please see the post below, posted by Lauren on 12/22 for additional information.

“Please join us in praying for our baby girl Scottlyn!

The last few days have been extremely scary between an ambulance ride and 2 ER visits. Ultimately, Scottlyn had to be lifelighted by helicopter to Children’s in Omaha and we are currently admitted to the Pediatric Cardiovascular ICU. Along with having Down Syndrome, Scottie was born with a known heart defect that we knew would require surgery in a few months, but over the last few days she quickly declined and went into a state of shock. Sunday evening was the scariest night of our lives but today Scottlyn’s health seems to be trending in the right direction.

Scottlyn has a long road ahead of her. While we are bummed to be spending another holiday in the hospital, we are very grateful for the nurses, doctors and staff that are providing the best care possible for her. Our little girl is a fighter and we are asking you to join us in praying for a quick recovery!

Current prayers:

- Kidneys and Liver can recover quickly from being in a state of shock

- Lactic Acidiosis number continue to decrease to help blood pressure to her organs

- Cardio team to make decision on repairing her leaking PDA

- Get off paralyzation medication and remove intubation tubes”

UPDATE 12/25:

“Merry Christmas from the Helgoth’s! We got a Christmas miracle and were finally able to hold our baby girl after 4 long days!

Thank you Jesus for keeping our baby alive! After almost losing her to congestive heart failure and multi-organ failure, Scottlyn is slowly making improvements. She has been taken off the paralytic and her Lactic Acidiosis and many other stats are back in normal range! We are continuing to pray that her kidneys and liver recover quickly and for the doctors to make the best decision about repairing her PDA.

Thank you to the friends, family and even strangers who are lifting Scottlyn up in prayer. We are counting our blessings today.❤️”

UPDATE 12/28:

"Colton and I are SO thankful for all the prayers, love, and support.

Scottlyn has had a good couple of days with very stable stats, which means mom & dad have got lots of cuddles!

Her doctors have decided to move forward with a catheter lab procedure in hopes of closing her PDA with a device, which is scheduled for Monday morning at 8am.

The cath lab is the least invasive approach, and the goal is for this procedure to successfully plug her PDA. However, there is a chance it may not work, and surgery could still be required.

***Please join us in praying for a successful procedure on Monday!!!

A little background:

Every baby is born with a PDA- a duct that allows blood to flow between the aorta and pulmonary artery. By 48 hours of life, this duct should close as the lungs take over breathing. Unfortunately, Scottie’s PDA didn’t close, causing constant shunting of blood to her lungs.

In addition to her AVSD, this has made it difficult for her heart to properly control blood flow. While her AVSD was already scheduled to be repaired in a few months, the PDA needs to be closed immediately to help her get better."

UPDATE 12/30:

"Sadly the catheder lab procedure was unsuccessful. Scottlyn is now scheduled to have heart surgery tomorrow around noon!

We ask for prayers for a successful surgery, guidance for the surgeons and their team, and comfort for Scottie, Colton and I. ”

UPDATE 12/31:

“Praise the Lord, Scottlyn’s surgery was a success!!

Her surgical team was able to successfully band her pulmonary artery and litigate her PDA, and they are no longer concerned about her aorta!

The next 24 hours are critical for her recovery, they’ll be closely monitoring how she tolerates her new physiology, but the surgeon is very pleased with how she tolerated surgery. Her liver and kidneys still have some healing to do, but she’s on the road to recovery!

Thank you for the prayers and support, this wouldn’t be possible without our community!”

UPDATE 01/06:

“Scottlyn’s breathing tube was removed this morning!! After two long weeks of being on a ventilator, we got to hear our baby girl’s voice and we couldn’t be happier!

Scottie is still recovering well from surgery. Her liver & kidneys have improved drastically, she’s lost a lot of the swelling and her heart is functioning the way the doctors want post surgery.

She will still require a second surgery months down the road, but for now we are working on getting well enough to go home. Our little girl is a fighter! ❤️”

UPDATE 01/11:

“Sweet girl is off all oxygen support, has been weaned off many medications and is working on bottle feeding again!

Yesterday we moved to stepdown, which means she is officially out of ICU status and working towards going home! We are so proud of our baby girl!! ”