Emily Progin, Content Manager
[email protected] / 800.642.8399
Release: Immediate
CONJOINED TWINS AT CHOP PREPARE FOR SEPARATION
“Our Two Beautiful Flowers Grew on the Same Stem”
CAMP HILL, Pa.—A miracle is on the way for conjoined twins Lilly and Lucy Thomas. A team of world-class doctors at CHOP is currently preparing the 11-month-old girls for precise separation surgery in late 2024. To help offset medical expenses and related costs, the community has started a fundraising campaign with the trusted nonprofit Help Hope Live in honor of the twins.
On Mother’s Day 2023, Kayla Thomas saw an ultrasound photo that would change her life. She learned her twin girls had a very special bond: two hearts in one body.
In November 2023, twins Lucy and Lilly Thomas were born at CHOP, conjoined from the liver to the bladder. “Our girls were facing toward each other,” explained mom Kayla. “We think it’s so they can share hugs and be strong for one another as they grow!”
The girls joined two excited older sisters—one a toddler, one school-aged—and a loving extended family. Mom Kayla grew up in central PA and graduated from Shippensburg. Her criminal justice degree became a career in fraud protection. Husband Braedon was a Central Penn College USCAA Academic All-American.
Prior to delivery, their family had to relocate two hours from home to be closer to CHOP for twice-monthly and then twice-weekly appointments for intensive medical monitoring. Post-delivery, Kayla works full-time and spends evenings and weekends with her twins at CHOP. On special weekends, Lilly and Lucy get to spend time with their older sisters, too.
“They are excited and wide-eyed, taking in the entire world around them.”
Along the journey, the Thomas family has faced immense medical and related expenses that have not been covered by insurance. That’s why their community started a medical fundraising campaign with the trusted nonprofit Help Hope Live.
Donations can be made at: https://helphopelive.org/campaign/22833/
Unlike a GoFundMe campaign, donations to Help Hope Live are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law, and all funds raised will be managed by the nonprofit to cover verified medical and related expenses. Help Hope Live verifies medical and financial need for every patient.
As Kayla explained, every donation—and every gesture of support—matters:
“Knowing that our extended family, friends, and the greater community is cheering for our beautiful twins means more than I can convey. Thank you for all for sharing your kindness, hope, and prayers.”
Help Hope Live is a national nonprofit that specializes in engaging communities in secure, tax-deductible fundraising campaigns for people who need a transplant or are affected by a catastrophic injury or illness. Since 1983, campaigns organized by Help Hope Live have raised over $188 million to pay patient expenses. ###
