Sick Baby Stuns Doctors By Surviving Off Life Support

Heart transplant canceled after baby girl defies doctors' expectations

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 9, 2009 1:41 AM CDT

(Newser) – A baby girl who almost became a heart donor unexpectedly survived when taken off life support, the Globe & Mail reports. Two-month-old Kaylee Wallace was born with a rare, incurable condition that doctors believed would stop her from breathing without assistance. But she rallied after her respirator was disconnected and her parents now hope they'll be able to bring the tiny girl home.

Doctors had been preparing to transplant Kaylee's heart into a baby girl suffering from a life-threatening heart defect. That girl has now been put back on the waiting list. Kaylee's condition could change at any time and her parents say they will again consider organ donation if she can't be saved. "We obviously want our daughter to live, but we want to save a child if she can't live,” her father said.

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Two-month-old Kaylee Wallace defied doctors' expectations by surviving off life support at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, The Toronto Star, Tara Walton)

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It’s not Kaylee’s time at this moment, and she will decide when the time comes. - Jason Wallace, Kaylee's father

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Sick Baby Stuns Doctors By Surviving Off Life Support