On Tuesday, May 13th, my precious 18-month-old niece Alice was taking an afternoon nap when her grandparents noticed she was struggling to breathe. They rushed her to the hospital, and from there, everything happened so fast. Alice was life-flighted to the children’s hospital, where doctors discovered her left lung had completely collapsed.

She was too unstable for any testing, so they had to sedate her, place her on a ventilator, and medically paralyze her to give her body a chance to rest. A bronchoscopy later revealed a foreign object in her lung, and she was taken into surgery to remove it.

For a short time, we felt a glimmer of hope—Alice seemed to be slowly improving. But recently, her condition has taken a turn. She’s no longer able to keep her oxygen levels up without very high support, and she’s no longer responding well to her treatments. Her care team has made the decision to place her on ECMO, a form of respiratory support that will hopefully give her body the time it needs to heal.

My brother and sister-in-law have barely left Alice’s side. They’re doing everything they can to stay strong and be there for their baby girl through every twist and turn of this journey.

We are asking for your help—most importantly through prayer. Please pray for Alice, for her mom and dad, and for her entire care team. And if you feel led to give financially, any amount will go directly toward her medical expenses. Even with insurance, the costs—life-flights, surgeries, ICU stays, and now ECMO—are incredibly heavy. This is one thing that they should not have to worry about.

We will continue to share updates as we receive them. Thank you for standing with this family in love, faith, and prayer.

Update as of 5/18: They did not go through with the ECMO last night and Alice did well through the night!

Update as of 5/19: Alice is still doing good, she is more alert today and got to watch some Winnie the Pooh with big sister Millie. She is being weaned off the vent, her oxygen levels are staying where they should while they're giving her less oxygen. They say the last bit of weaning is the toughest so please pray that will go smoothly.

We are so thankful for all the prayers and support for the family during this time.