Meet Kai, your 2016 Summer Scamper Patient Hero

Kai’s parents describe him as their “big rugby fighter,” after the rugby players they watched while living in Ireland. And they’re right—Kai is definitely a fighter. Born four weeks early through an emergency cesarean section at Packard Children’s, Kai was only a few minutes old when he stopped breathing. What doctors first suspected were underdeveloped lungs due to prematurity, evolved into an infection that left Kai in very critical condition in the NICU.

Kai’s dedicated team of nurses talked the family through their most painful moments. “They were ever so gentle,” recalls Imma, Kai’s mother. “And of course, we will always be thankful to the doctors who never gave up, including Drs. Kumar, Palma, and Stevenson.” By supporting neonatology research at our hospital, you can help our tiniest patients like Kai win battles against huge odds.