Story
Name
Sawyer Lagarde
Injury/Illness
Respiratory Disease
For those of you who don't know Sawyer, she is a fierce, loveable and happy little girl who was diagnosed with Sanfilippo Syndrome at age 2. She's been in and out of hospitals since she was born and continues to fight and overcome everything that comes her way.
On Saturday, August 3rd, Sam (Sawyer's dad) woke up to Sawyer gasping for air and had to perform CPR/rescue breaths. She was taken by ambulance to Children’s Hospital in St. Paul where she was intubated. Over the course of a few days and after two failed attempts of extubating, there were a lot of scary unknowns and what next.
Sawyer's team of doctors thought she was having Laryngospasms (vocal cord spasms) that caused her airway to close. After doing a bronchoscopy, they found she actually has Bronchomalacia and Tracheomalacia. Essentially this means her airways are very narrow and weak.
The only way to provide Sawyer with the quality of life she deserves was to place a trach to keep her airway open. On Friday, August 9th, Sawyer headed to the OR again and a custom-made trach was placed. It is still being determined if this trach will prevent the spasms from happening in the future. Sawyer remains in the PICU at Children's Hospital where they will determine if this solution will be successful. If not, she will need to undergo another very risky surgery.
There are still a lot of unknowns and the Lagarde family continues to take it day by day. Sam and Brittany are both unable to work at this time. They have been spending their days and nights at the hospital right by Sawyer's side. Brittany is Sawyer’s PCA but while she’s in the hospital she cannot receive pay. Sam is unable to receive short-term disability and is running out of PTO.
They’ve received the most amazing support already and are extremely humbled and grateful for every single prayer and well wish. These things are truly carrying them through this time.
I know there are so many people out there that love Sawyer and her family as much as we do. If you are looking for a way to support them, please consider donating. These funds will help cover their monthly expenses, provide gas to and from the hospital, allow them to enjoy meals by Sawyer's side and just help ease the burden of worrying about finances. Instead, they can put all their time and energy into their precious little girl.