Meet Khansaa
Little Khansaa and her family stayed with Yellow Door at the VOGA House when she received a new heart.
One of the first families served by Yellow Door was that of little Khansaa. Her mom Sephida had not held her baby girl for the first 7 months of her life while Khansaa was in the ICU awaiting a new heart.
Sephida Artis-Mills, a mother of five boys from Virginia Beach, waited for the ultrasound results 31 weeks into her pregnancy and upon hearing there was bad news, assumed she was having another son.
Unfortunately that was not the case. Her first daughter, Khansaa, would be born with a congenital heart defect and would require three heart surgeries for her best chance at survival. After the first surgery at UVA Children’s, her doctors noticed complications. Khansaa would need to stay and wait for a heart transplant in Charlottesville, three hours away from home.
Sephida spent 10-13 hours each day at her daughter’s bedside so commuting back and forth from VA Beach was not an option. This where Yellow Door entered and provided Sephida and her family a home away from home while baby Khansaa healed after receiving her new heart.
“I want to share this testimony not only to show how great God is, but to highlight an amazing foundation that the world needs to know about. On September 18, 2018, I met with JoAnne McTague the founder of Yellow Door Foundation. Yellow Door provides apartments for families of immunocompromised patients, including children with cancer, and children listed for transplant.
God opened a door for me and my family that provided a place where we can all be together during Khansaa’s wait for a new heart. All I had to do was bring what I had with me when I stayed at the Ronald McDonald House. The Ronald McDonald House was a tremendous blessing as well, however, due to communal living where there are shared spaces with other families, it would not work for an immunocompromised child. Everything from antibacterial paint to engineered hardwood flooring, great detail and care went into making this space suitable for a patient like Khansaa once discharged from the hospital.
I cannot thank Yellow Door enough for their kindness and determination to make a difference. They are providing a much-needed resource for families like mine and will need as much support as possible to continue doing so.”
Update on Khansaa
Khansaa is now four-years old, on the move constantly and talking up a storm. She celebrated the second anniversary of her new heart in the fall of 2020. Mom and Khansaa are doing well.
Actually, Yellow Door was so impressed with Sephida’s passion, her involvement in the transplant community, and her thorough knowledge of all things “pediatric heart transplant” that we knew we had to have her on our Board! Sephida joined the Yellow Door Foundation executive board in May 2019. Sephida is an amazing resource for all our heart transplant families.
Help More Families
The Yellow Door Foundation can only continue providing critical support to families through generous donations.