Kayleigh Louiseize has not left her 4-year-old daughter Alisynn's side throughout a harrowing ordeal that resulted in the young North Bay girl being airlifted with a trauma team to Pearson Airport in Toronto, then rushed to Sick Kids Hospital.
This, according to the young girl's grandfather, Shawn Louiseize, who tells BayToday a neurosurgeon removed an 8-centimetre tumour from Alisynn's brain, Wednesday. Alisynn began her lengthy recovery journey in the ICU and was moved to the neurology unit late Thursday.
"The doctor here said if Alisynn hadn't boarded the plane, she would be dead," Shawn says. "She is fighting so hard and attempting to recover," and is on a morphine pump and has a drain tube in her skull. He says the team at Sick Kids has been excellent and keeping the family updated despite the fact only his daughter Kayleigh was initially allowed inside due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Alisynn's father, Jonathan Raymond, has also joined the family in Toronto and has since been granted access to the hospital to be with his daughter.
"They hope for a good recovery — it will take eight to nine weeks of recovery and rehab," says Shawn. "Alisynn may have to learn how to walk again."
The family says it is facing an uncertain financial situation due to employment upheaval — Shawn and wife Brittany work as part-time nurses — and an already planned move back to North Bay to continue to support Kayleigh and Alisynn.
To help mitigate the costs for travel and lodging while Alisynn fights her way through her rehabilitation program, Shawn says the family has reluctantly decided to appeal to the community for financial assistance for Alisynn and Kayleigh, already facing mounting costs associated with the medical emergency.
According to the family, the Ronald McDonald House's tenancy is restricted due to COVID-19 and is already full with a waiting list. Kayleigh will need food, shelter and transportation to Sick Kids. She arrived in Toronto with only the clothes on her back as she got on the plane with Alisynn without having packed a bag.
To help Alisynn and her family with recovery costs, click here.
Shawn says, "We just don’t have the cash to support her completely," yet the focus remains on being there for Alisynn and Kayleigh in any way they can. He adds the family is most grateful for any assistance their hometown community can spare.
In a conversation from the parking lot of Sick Kids, an emotional Shawn says he fears his physically active granddaughter — who loves gymnastics and dance — may never be able to participate again due to the damage to her cerebellum, the part of the brain affecting motor skills.
