Meet Lakin, our Columbus Duck Race Patient Champion!

On the day of Lakin’s birth, her parents entered the hospital expecting to have a traditional delivery. Their plans for a joyful celebration quickly turned into a fight for her survival. For the first 12 minutes of Lakin’s life, she was breathless and experienced multiple seizures. Doctors discovered severe bleeding on her brain and she suffered from hydrocephalus. This resulted in a shunt being placed to help drain extra cerebrospinal fluid from her brain.

After being transported to Nationwide Children’s Hospital by Medevac, Lakin spent the next 44 days fighting for her life. Jon and Stephanie, Lakin’s parents, stayed nearby at the Ronald McDonald house while the team worked to save their daughter’s life. Over time they saw improvements in Lakin’s health, and she was able to go home for the first time. Upon returning home, their biggest obstacle came during feedings. Lakin had a difficult time digesting the minimum necessary for her nutritional intake, but they stayed the course no matter how hard it had gotten. After further testing, Lakin was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy which came as no surprise to her parents. They had already been forewarned that it was a possibility.

Jon stated “Every nurse, doctor and staff member went out of their way to not only care for our daughter, but to ensure that my wife and I were doing okay as well. We were always comforted knowing that our daughter was in good hands with the staff at Nationwide”.

Currently, Lakin is one of the happiest children around. She is now walking without the assistance of a walker. Lakin loves going to school where she plays and learns with her friends and teachers. She has played all abilities baseball for the past two summers and loves going to dance class! She is the best big sister to her little brother who just turned one. She enjoys going on stroller runs with Dad and is the best helper for Mom.