Meet our Stollery Champion, Rylie
Rylie is a kind-hearted, energetic and hilarious girl who brings laughter to everyone she meets. Thanks to her Stollerific cardiac team, Rylie gets to spread laughter near and far!
Rylie’s mom went for an ultrasound at 32-weeks pregnant because she was measuring small. The ultrasound showed Rylie had a heart defect, there was little to no amniotic fluid and the placenta was no longer working properly. Rylie was delivered via an emergency C-section, but things didn’t look good. She was born with a hole in her heart and rushed to the NICU where she stayed for three months.
At six months old, she returned to the Stollery for open-heart surgery. A routine procedure that usually takes only three or four hours took more than seven for Rylie’s team to complete. The next day, Rylie took a turn for the worse and spent a week on life support. Things started to look up for Rylie, when she suddenly went into heart failure. Rylie’s team decided to move forward with a risky second open-heart surgery.
Over time, Rylie would continue to grow but the valve she received as a baby wouldn’t, ultimately needing to be replaced. In the fall of 2023, Rylie’s cardiologist decided that it was time to replace Rylie’s valve. On January 22, 2024, Rylie returned to the Stollery for her third open-heart surgery to replace her valve. Her surgery went as expected and after spending less than a week recovering she was released and able to continue her recovery at home. Rylie’s family is grateful to have the Stollery, the hub for pediatric heart surgery in Western Canada a short drive away.