Support Baby Vaeda's Fight in the NICU

Support for Baby Vaeda & Family

Tad and Erica Young, just had their first baby and are now facing one of the most difficult seasons of their lives.

On June 5th 2025, precious Vaeda Marie Young was born weighing 6 pounds 7 ounces. She’s currently in the NICU at Children’s, fighting hard everyday and will spend countless days to months there.

In utero, it was found that Vaeda had a arachnoid cyst causing the cerebellum to be abnormally small due to the cyst growing. While many are small and cause no problems, larger cysts can put pressure on the brain and cause neurological damage. In utero, it was unclear how much Vaeda would be affected until birth. Shortly after she was born, it was found her vocal cords are paralyzed causing her breathing to be affected. She and her parents await in the NICU for tests to be able to choose the best treatment, which could be surgery or even a breathing tube for Vaeda.

Erica will be spending her days in the NICU while recovering from a C-section. Tad will be spending limited days in the NICU until returning back to work next week so he can support his wife and Vaeda. He plans on taking his normal paternity leave when Vaeda comes home.

As we all know, hospital bills can hit hard. Tad and Erica have faced incredible challenges, and now they need our support more than ever. We are raising funds to help lift any financial burdens and to give our support. We’re raising funds to help them with meals at this time, boarding their two dogs, Tamba and Eddie, as well as the many medical bills.

An update on Vaeda as of June 12th 2025, she was seen by ENT. They believe her vocal cords most likely won’t recover on their own as it’s related to brain/spinal cord issues. They believe she will need to have a tracheotomy placed and be on a ventilator at all times. They will need to have a home health nurse/s as someone would have to be awake with Vaeda at all times. As she gets older, they would potentially do surgery to open the vocals cords and remove the tracheotomy. It’s going to be a long process to get her home as Tad and Erica will need to learn how to care for her.

An update on as of July 1st 2025, Vaeda is undergoing a surgery today to have a trach placed in her throat to help bipass her vocal cords, to help her breathe. They will also place a feeding tube on the outside of her stomach to give easier access for feedings.

She will be sedated for the first week after surgery to give everything time to heal, and then they will be able to see if she can breathe on her own without the ventilator. Vaeda is tiny but she’s strong & she’s absolutely an overcomer.

Any contribution, whether big or small, monetary or not will make a meaningful difference and is deeply appreciated. Please consider sharing this page and keeping baby Vaeda and her parents in your prayers.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!