Community asked to help Armstrong girl with rare condition

A North Okanagan family is hoping the community will lend a hand and help them as their little girl recovers from open heart surgery at BC Children’s Hospital.

For over six weeks, four-year-old Kiera Hansen has been recovering in the hospital after undergoing her fourth open heart surgery. Kiera was born with heterotaxy syndrome, an extremely rare condition that affects only one in 250,000 people. It causes organs to be formed on the wrong sides of the body, typically resulting in heart defects, a missing spleen and other complications.

According to family friend Shara Mendoza, Kiera has right isomerism, meaning her body created two right sides internally. The little girl’s heart is on the right side of her body and as a result, she has severe heart defects.

“Kiera was basically born with half a heart and it is on the opposite side of her body,”said Mendoza. “What makes her even more unique is that she has an identical twin.”

There is no quick fix for Kiera’s heart condition, but surgeons can extend her life by performing a series of open heart surgeries. According to Mendoza, Kiera has had many setbacks including needing an extra open heart surgery when she was born and many other medical interventions for complications.

“Kiera recently had the final open heart surgery and has had a long road to recovery,” continued Mendoza. “After being hospitalized for five weeks she was finally sent back to Armstrong, only to have to be sent back to BCCH. While her condition is currently stable, she is still hospitalized.”

Mendoza has launched an online crowdfunding campaign to help the family as they go through this difficult time.

“The strain on her family is tremendous. One parent needs to be with Kiera at all times. The other parent needs to care for Kiera's sisters, keep the home in order and work. It just isn't possible to do it all, and Kiera's dad has had to take a long period off of work,” explained Mendoza.

So far, just over $4,000 has been raised on a Go Fund Me page for the family with the goal of reaching $10,000. If you would like to know more about Kiera’s story or donated to the crowd funding page, click here.