Kellam family

The Kellam family are a wonderful, warm and caring family of 5 who have had to endure far more than one family should.

Katie has HLHS (Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome) which means her heart has a right atrium and ventricle, no left side. HLHS covers a variety of left sided defects but in Katies case she has no left side what so ever. When she was born she also had a variety of other problems including a hypoplastic left lung. No child born with her set of problems had survived 24 hours.

Katie has not only survived, she has thrived, however her most recent surgery resulted in a series of life threatening complications and an anxious wait for her family. After a long and arduous hospital stay, the little fighter has bounced back and is enjoying life back home.

As if that wasn't enough, Katie's dad Geoff is fighting a rare type of stomach cancer - adeno gastric cancer. The family have recently been informed that the first trial drug he has been on (Keytruda) has failed. This particular treatment was costing the family $4,500 every 3 weeks. There is now a second trial drug Geoff is able to try, however it is even more expensive.

While we can only do so much to help deal with the emotional and physical toll on the family, we are hoping to assist to alleviate some of the financial burden this family is enduring with loss of income and rising medical costs, to allow them to just focus on getting through this terribly hard time together.