The saga of an infant girl no one expected to live is turning a new page as her parents prepare to take her home from hospital, but not without some fresh drama.
A family representative has appealed to media to shuttle the girl home by helicopter.
Three-month-old Kaylee Vitelli defied doctors’ fatal prognosis last month and her heart — which her parents publicly hoped would be donated to another critically ill baby — continued to beat in her own tiny body.
She is now healthy enough to be raised in her family’s residence north of Toronto.
How she gets there may net one media outlet an exclusive story — should any be willing to fund a medical grade, six-seat helicopter. That’s the exchange proffered by a family spokesman yesterday, one day before the baby was to be discharged from the Hospital for Sick Children.
“The family would allow that reporter to basically travel with them in the air and to land with them,” said J.P. Pampena.
As of late afternoon yesterday at least one media outlet had made an offer, along with at least one other donor, said a spokeswoman from Pampena’s office.
Offering one reporter exclusive access during that pre-paid journey, which he estimated could cost at least $800 each way, didn’t pose any ethical dilemma, he said.
