There wasn't a dry eye in the place today
when Shannon Candar prepared for her
first trip home.
Her survival is a remarkable story
and a tribute to her grit and the skill
of her medical attendants.
She was born nine weeks prematurely,
weighing three pounds and with a severe
lung problem.
Doctors estimated she had a 50 50 chance
to survive, but that quickly deteriorated
as numerous complications set in.
She had one lung removed, heart surgery
and eventually a tracheotomy to aid her
breathing. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Kurt
Candar of North Richland Hills, drove
thirty six thousand miles in total,
visiting her every other day while she
struggled to live.
But they never gave up hope.
Not as long as she was still breathing
most of any life at all.
You can't give up on a hospital
like environment will be created in her
home with equipment and an eight to five
nurse to provide the needed care.
At this stage, the hospital bill alone
is one hundred and seventy thousand
dollars, and the Kindred's estimate that
home care will cost thirteen hundred
dollars each week.
Although 80 percent of those costs are
being met by insurance, 30 to 40
thousand dollars will still be left
to help meet those medical expenses.
Friends have established a trust fund at
the Texas Bank of Commerce and Hurst.
The Kennedys think the expense was well
worth it. And as they left the hospital
today with the baby, one of the doctors
remarked, I never thought we would
see this day.
Jebbie Phillips, The Texas News.