Kaylee Angelica Babb

Kaylee is our beautiful 3yr old medically complex ray of sunshine. She was born January 16, 2023 by an emergency c-section at Mercy Hospital in Joplin. After a week there in the NICU, she was transferred to Children’s Mercy in Kansas City to receive more specialized care because of her bradycardia and desaturation events and difficult airway. Kaylee stayed at Children’s Mercy in the NICU/PICU for the next 151 days. While at Children’s Mercy, she was diagnosed with the rare genetic disorder Partial Trisomy 2Q and multiple secondary conditions requiring continuous need for surgical interventions. Because of Kaylee’s multiple medical conditions and mobility issues she is wheelchair bound requiring an adaptive van for transporting her to her numerous specialist and therapies.

This is why we need your help!

On April 26 sirens sounded and we quickly rushed to the basement of our friend’s house to seek safety from the possible tornado that was headed our way. After a few hours the sirens stopped and my 4 children and I decided to head home. Worrying about getting Kaylee‘s care and medication done and getting the kids to bed for school the next morning we drove down 13th Street towards our house. As we were getting closer to Southern Avenue the water on the road began to rise quickly. By the time we got to 13th and Southern, Kaylee’s wheelchair van had stalled and started taking on water. After trying to restart the van I told my kids to get out and onto the grassy bank. I tried again and then saw the water rising on the floorboard, I stepped out of the van into knee-high water and joined my kids. As a man across the street kept watch we crossed Southern Avenue in water that reached my youngest son‘s waist, he is 9 yrs old and has autism. The rain continued pouring down on us, but thankfully, after crossing, we were able to reach roads that weren’t flooded yet and safely made it home.

Kaylee’s van was towed to a local shop early the next morning. Another 10+ vehicles were also caught in the flash flood that night and needing towed. The engine ended up being flooded and we were told the wiring would eventually rust causing issues in the future even if we replace the engine and other flooded parts. The insurance company deemed the van a total loss.

Kaylee‘s van was such a needed medical asset for our family, not only allowing her to get to her specialist in Kansas City multiple times a month and all her therapies, but also gave her the ability to stay actively involved in all the family and community events to help her continue to grow and feel/be included.

Now we really need all of our friends and the communities help to get Kaylee some new wheels. If you can donate please do, any funds are tax deductible for contributors and go directly to Kaylee’s medical van. If you’re unable to donate, you can still help us raise the funds by sharing this campaign on all your social media platforms.

Thank you for all your prayers, love, and support during this difficult time!

Family and friends of Kaylee Babb are raising money for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses associated with a catastrophic illness. Kaylee has chosen to fundraise with Help Hope Live in part because donations are tax deductible for contributors and will only be used to cover medical and related expenses.