My name is Natalie Smith. I am a single mother urgently seeking help for my 18-year-old daughter, Kaillie Smith Roberts, who has Sickle Cell Disease (SS) and has been repeatedly hospitalized since she was one year old.

Over the past five years, her condition has become more severe. Kaillie suffers frequent, excruciating pain crises and requires regular blood transfusions and blood exchange treatments due to dangerously low haemoglobin levels. She often needs emergency room care, hospital admissions, ongoing pain management and repeated imaging tests such as X-rays, CT scans and MRIs just to determine what is causing her pain. These treatments are essential but the costs are overwhelming.

Because of her illness, Kaillie has been unable to attend school consistently or live a normal teenage life. In her own words:

“I wish I could receive the cure for this disease. I can’t wait for the day when I can live without constant pain, complete my schooling, and experience a normal everyday life.”

On the advice of her paediatric doctors, we made the tough decision to leave Grenada and come to Canada in hopes of better medical care. However, Kaillie does not yet qualify for OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance), which means we are fully responsible for every medical bill. I was forced to take a leave of absence from my job to care for her full-time, leaving us without steady income as the bills continue to mount up.

We urgently need support to cover outstanding and continued medical expenses and ensure my daughter can receive the care she needs. Any donation, no matter how small, will help ease this unbearable burden. If you cannot donate, please consider sharing this fundraiser.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your kindness, compassion, and support during the hardest time of our lives.