Amelia's Homecoming Needs!

On December 13, 2024, Afshaan and Kevin welcomed Amelia June Burtram into the world extremely prematurely at just 24 weeks. For seven months, Amelia has been receiving amazing medical care in the NICU at VCU Medical Center.

While Amelia has been growing in the NICU, she has needed a lot of support and multiple surgeries to help her little body get strong and healthy. One of Amelia’s most recent surgeries was a tracheostomy - this was necessary in order to allow her to continue to receive a high level of respiratory support and hopefully get her home sooner.

Recently the Burtram family moved to a new home where they’ve experienced several power outages during storms - some lasting for more than 12 hours. In order to finally bring Amelia home, Kevin and Afshaan need to install a whole house generator to keep Amelia safe with her respiratory support on track in the event of a power outage.

After receiving several estimates, the cost of this project will be approximately $20,000. Having this generator installed is a critical step in getting her there!

In addition to the whole house generator, Kevin and Afshaan urgently need to get a new vehicle. Amelia will need to go to numerous medical appointments and two adults will need to be in the car with her for car rides. Their current car won’t fit two adults, Margot (2.5 years old) and Amelia with her respiration equipment. We’re hoping they can trade in their smaller sedan and to purchase a larger vehicle that will allow all four family members to travel together.

This is an incredibly overwhelming expense that comes after months of hurdles. We are hopeful that as a community, we can help make this load easier to bear for Kevin and Afshaan. Amelia still has a long road ahead of her, but we’re eager to see her continue that road while being home with Kevin, Afshaan and Margot.