No one expected baby Kaylee Vitelli to live — not her doctors at the world-renowned Hospital for Sick Children, and certainly not her parents.
And yet the critically ill girl, who was removed from life-support last month with the intention of having her heart transplanted into another ailing child, arrived home Thursday to be cared for by her family instead of medical staff.
Swaddled in a yellow blanket and wearing a flowery sundress, the three-month-old gurgled happily and breathed loudly — punctuated by short bursts of crying — as her mother cradled her inside the family home.
The girl was discharged from hospital earlier in the day and transported in a dramatic fashion — partly via limousine and helicopter — to her grandparents’ home in Bradford.
“We wanted her home, we wanted to have our child beside us,” Kaylee’s father Jason Wallace said outside the two-storey brick house as curious neighbours gawked.
“It’s (been) a very emotional trip for us. The roller-coaster is still going to move forward. But she’s going to have two parents, family and great friends that support her through whatever difficulty she has.”
