In Support of Kaylea's recovery

My name is Melissa, and I am Kaylea’s mom. I am asking for help during the most devastating and frightening time our family has ever faced. On April 22nd, our lives changed in an instant.

Kaylea had a major spinal surgery in 2025 — a surgery we believed would finally give her a pain‑free life. Instead, we recently learned that the rods and screws implanted in her spine have been recalled, and several of her screws are now broken. Even with this dangerous hardware failure, we still have not been able to find a surgeon willing to take her case. She has been left in pain, unsafe, and without the urgent treatment she needs.

After spending weeks at Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehab Hospital, Kaylea is now back home with us, but her condition remains extremely serious. She is in a wheelchair and still has:

She is now awaiting a myelogram and an appointment with a spinal surgeon, hoping for answers — and praying someone will finally take her case. Until then, she is home, but she is not safe, not stable, and not receiving the surgical care she urgently needs.

Our family moved to Tennessee in December, hoping for a fresh start after Kaylea accepted a wonderful teaching opportunity. She poured her heart into her students and her school. But because of her medical crisis and the time she has been forced to miss, we were recently informed that her teaching contract will not be renewed for next year. She is now officially without a job, without income, and without the ability to work due to her paralysis and pain.

Because we all live together, the financial strain affects our entire household. We are fighting to keep our power and utilities on while Kaylea fights just to regain basic function. She cannot focus on healing when she is worried about whether our home will remain stable and safe.

I am asking for help so Kaylea — and our family — can:

Kaylea has always been the one who shows up for others. Now she needs our support — medically, physically, financially, and emotionally.

If you are able to donate, share, or simply keep her in your prayers, our family would be forever grateful. Every act of kindness helps lighten the enormous weight she is carrying.

Thank you for standing with her during this unimaginable time.

As Kaylea's mom, it has been devastating to watch what she's gone through since April 22nd. Her spinal hardware- the rods and screws for her previous surgery in 2025, a surgery we thought would give her back a pain free life, has been recalled and several of her screws are even broken. Even with this, we have not been able to get a surgeon to operate or take on her case, leaving her in pain, unsafe, and without the treatment she needs. 

She hasn't been home in almost a month. Right now, she's in Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehab Hospital, in a wheelchair, (loss of feeling in right leg and foot and no feeling in bladder), working through 1.5 hours of physical therapy and 1.5 hours of occupational therapy every single day. She is fighting with everything she has, but we still don't know when she'll be able to come home, and we don't know if she will walk again. 

We moved to Tennessee in December with the hopes of a new beginning after Kaylea took a great teaching opportunity, now she hasn't worked since January. The loss of mobility, independence, and income has been overwhelming. As her mother, I'm asking for help so she can focus on healing without the fear of losing everything or power and utilities being cut off. She dedicated many years of her life to taking care and supporting her students and others and now she needs our support more than ever- medically, physically, financially, emotionally-while we continue searching for a surgeon willing to help her.