Support for Khalil's Open-Heart Surgery

My name is Ashley Collins and I’m setting up this GoFundMe to be able to support my 13-year-old son during his open-heart surgery and recovery, and lift off the significant financial burden that comes with it.

Khalil is a fun-loving, kind, high-energy 13-year-old child who goes all in on his interests that include aquascaping his many fish tanks, playing with his cats, piano, soccer, baseball, skiing, hip hop, swimming, exploring, gardening, cooking, and so many more things. This is his first summer as a counselor in training at a wilderness education camp. Unfortunately, the summer is taking a detour.

This past fall 2024, Khalil was sidelined from soccer when he started experiencing dizziness and a persistent headache. A CT scan revealed that Khalil had a significant restriction in his aortic valve and subclavian steal syndrome, something that is usually discovered and repaired in infancy. Cardiology and neurology at Boston's Children's Hospital say it’s the 2nd most evolved case in a non-infant they have had. Khalil was scheduled for surgery as soon as possible and was given a stent. The expectation was that he wouldn’t need additional surgery until after he reached maturity.

Unfortunately, Khalil has continued to have symptoms, and a CT scan 6 months later revealed the stent has not worked. Khalil will require open-heart surgery to rebuild his aortic valve. The surgery is expected to last 5-8 hours and require at least 2 days in ICU plus 10 days recovery at Children's Hospital in Boston. His total recovery time will be 6-8 weeks. Our family will travel to Boston for the duration of Khalil’s surgery and in-hospital recovery.

This GoFundMe is to help cover the medical deductible, food, housing, loss of income, and general support for our family during Khalil's healing journey.

Thank you for supporting Khalil and his parents during this time. We also gladly accept and love all thoughts and prayers for a successful surgery, an awesome recovery, and an amazing 8th grade at his beloved school.