Baby Kylie thriving back home in Virginia after rare double lung transplant

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) – After a rare double lung transplant in Texas, a central Virginia baby is finally home and thriving.

At 10 months old, Kylie Overfield-Haddix has started a new phase of her life and can jump and blow bubbles like any other normal baby.

But it is anything but ordinary.

“It still feels like a dream that I hope I never wake up from,” said her mother, Ashley Overfied.

Kylie was born in November 2023 but never left the hospital.

It took a few months before doctors finally diagnosed her with a disease that occurs only once in a million: surfactant B deficiency.

The recessive lung disease leads to fatal respiratory failure within the first months of life.

Kylie’s only hope for survival was a double lung transplant, but in Virginia such an operation is not available for infants.

Her entire family had to move to Houston in January so Kylie could be put on the transplant list at Texas Children’s Hospital.

They waited for months for a donor who came just in time.

In April, doctors at Texas Children’s successfully performed a double lung transplant on Kylie and also underwent unexpected heart surgery to close some holes.

“I don’t think I slept for the first two or three days,” Overfield said. “Her father and I took turns sleeping.”

The next hurdle was making sure Kylie’s little body accepted the new lungs.

She passed this too with flying colors.

In early August, the family was finally able to return to Virginia.

“I cried so hard when I saw the ‘Welcome to Virginia’ sign because the last time I was here I didn’t know if she was going to survive,” Overfield said. “I didn’t know if we were going to bring her back.”

Overfield said Texas Children’s Hospital only let her return after being assured that VCU Children’s Hospital of Richmond could provide Kylie’s special care.

“There have only been 32 lung transplants in babies, period,” Overfield said.

Overfield says Kylie is the only baby in the state with a double lung transplant.

“Even though they’ve had heart transplants, which is common, and things like that, nobody’s had a lung transplant,” she said. “So it’s new for everyone. They’re doing really well. They’re very attentive. I can text them anytime.”

Overfield and her husband are committed to providing Kylie with the best care possible at home, with medications administered through a feeding tube.

“So when we give her medication, depending on the day of the week, she gets it 12 to 2 in the morning and then 12 to 2 at night,” Overfield said.

The family also does Kylie’s physical therapy exercises at home until she is taken off the waiting list for a therapist in the area.

They have to keep her tracheostomy meticulously clean to avoid infection, but they hope Kylie will be ready to have it removed once she can breathe better on her own.

“She’s perfect,” Overfield gushed. “I can’t believe she almost wasn’t here.”

Overfield says she plans to start a nonprofit foundation in Kylie’s name to help other families facing similar issues.

“How can I receive a gift like that and not do anything with it? That wouldn’t feel right to me,” Overfield said.

She said details will eventually be posted on Kylie’s Facebook page, Lung Transplant Journey.

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