ROBERTSDALE, Ala. (WKRG) – A Baldwin County family is asking for prayers this month as their two-year-old daughter prepares for a heart transplant. Evelyn Kubicz was born with a rare heart defect and now she’s on a waiting list, stuck in a Birmingham hospital until a match is found. She was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome.
“Which is where her left ventricle did not form so she had open heart surgery when she was 5 days old and she had a second open heart surgery at 4 months old,” said her mom, Jasmyn Kubicz.
Now, since Oct. 1, the Robertsdale family is away from home while Evelyn is treated at Children’s of Alabama Hospital in Birmingham. The process of finding a match isn’t easy, though.
“It’s pretty terrifying. There’s always the chance of rejection of a new heart and then having to think about another child having to die in order for our child to live is really difficult,” her mom explained.
She tells us doctors expect it to take a few months before a match is found and until then Evelyn and her family wait patiently as each day passes.
“We really spend most of the day in her hospital room watching movies. We try to get her out of the bed as much as possible,” she said.
After the heart transplant doctors say it’ll take several more months of healing. Right now their focus is on Evelyn’s health and finding that match.
“Over the course of this year her heart failure has just progressed pretty extremely and rapidly. So many people have reached out and asked what they can do and it’s just been very heartwarming and we’re just very, very thankful,” she continued.
The family is selling t-shirts and bracelets to help with medical expenses.