Virginia infant awaits life-saving double lung transplant at Texas Children’s
4-month-old needs double lung transplant
Only on FOX, a baby girl is fighting for her life at Texas Children's Hospital has a rare disease and is waiting for a miracle - a double lung transplant. FOX 26's Sherman Desselle spoke with her mother who shared the family's story and has a message on organ donation.
HOUSTON - A 4-month-old infant from Virginia is fighting against the odds and battling a rare disease. Her parents are waiting for a miracle donor, so she can have a double lung transplant at Texas Children’s Hospital.
Little Kylie Overfield has been in four different hospitals in two states for months since she was born. Kylie is in desperate need of a transplant. Her mother, Ashley Overfield is hopeful and wants people to know about the battles they're facing.
"So many times, at the beginning, I didn't think she was going to make it through the night," Ashley Overfield said. "I would have to sit there and hold her little hand in the NICU, and I didn’t know she was going to stop breathing. It was scary."
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This is the daily life of Kylie Overfield and her parents. They're currently at Texas Children's waiting for a miracle.
Kylie was delivered in November 2023 in Richmond, Virginia. Her mother Ashely noticed something wrong immediately.
"As soon as they took her out, they put her on my chest, and she started turning purple. I started freaking out and got the nurse," the mom stated.
After two hospitals, doctors detected surfactant protein deficiency - a rare disorder in Kylie's lungs that can cause them to collapse. It would give her only months to live. Hospice was recommended, but Kylie's already exceeded expectations, still fighting after four months.
"I didn't want to do that. I don't want to hold my baby as she takes her last breath. I'm not going to stop fighting for her. As long as she's fighting, I'm going to fight," says Ashley.
So they did. It led the family to Texas Children's, the hospital ranked first in the nation for successful pediatric transplants. The biggest challenge is finding little lungs for her and Dr. David S. Moreno-McNeill, a Pediatric Pulmonologist explains just how much.
"Organ donation is very needed. It's a selfless gift for our families. With babies, it's such a rare procedure that is done," states Dr. Moreno-McNeill. "Without a transplant, our patients would not survive. It's really a second chance at life. So it really feels like a miracle."
Kylie is one of 20 children in the country on the organ transplant list. She may not see her first birthday without a donation. If she were to need life support, it could impact her eligibility to receive the new lungs. Her mother's keeping the faith - hoping a miracle will happen soon.
"I don't want another family to lose their child. That's heartbreaking. But if they did, and they found themselves in that circumstance, I pray that they can find some peace with saving my daughter," Overfield said.
Kylie's parents had a wedding set for last December, but it was put on hold. They plan on getting married in Kylie's hospital room here at Texas Children's next month.
Texas Children’s Hospital is the largest pediatric hospital in the United States.
In 2023, for the seventh consecutive year, Texas Children’s Hospital led the nation in performing the most pediatric transplants, as reported by the Organ Procurement & Transplantation Network (OPTN), the country’s unique public-private registry for organ matching. Transplant Services completed 99 transplants, outpacing all other children’s hospitals by more than 10 complex surgeries.
For more information on how you can register to be a donor in the event of your death, click here.