How one couple’s near-tragedy inspired many

They say that great people are not the ones that bad things never happen to, they are the ones who deal with the bad things in the best way. In life, we can’t control everything but we can always control our reaction. That is why when something goes wrong in life we should try and see the positive in it, how we can learn from it, and how we can help others. When Jesse and Kayla Harmon discovered a tragedy about their child they reacted in an amazing way.

Kayla Harmon was pregnant when she found out that her daughter Leilani would be born with half a heart. Medical professionals were obviously very worried and the probability of her even surviving the birth was very low. If she made it through that there were no guarantees of a high quality or long life. Kayla and Jesse were distraught but they powered on and Kayla gave birth to their daughter months later.

With Leilani’s rare condition she needed to have three surgeries as soon as possible. Each one was a high-risk maneuver. At each moment Kayla and Jesse were frightened but powered through. At each moment Leilani powered through as well, each surgery was an incredible success. 

Today Leilani is two years old, the surgeries allowed half a heart to pump blood to all the organs of her body. Doctors say she is fit and healthy and that all that now remains of the incredible procedures is a small scar. 

Leilani became a symbol of hope to many. If she was able to get through multiple surgeries as a tiny baby and come out strong and healthy, anyone can. Leilani’s parents felt that this powerful message needed to be shared. Although they went through some incredibly tough times during the ordeal, they are now an incredibly happy family. Kayla and Jesse want to do whatever they can to ensure others feel the same. They have spoken to many parents going through similar heartache and their doctor has told many in suffering to contact Jesse and Kayla whose story is inspiring the battles of many others. 

Jesse and Kayla now treat every day as an incredible gift and they want to inspire others as well. In moments of fear, they want to help others to cope, in moments of anguish, they want to be a hand to hold. The pair offer an incredible lesson on how to deal with hardship in life. Of course, they came through it in a positive way with good news and many don’t. Importantly though they didn’t just get on with their lives as normal, they felt they owed it to the world to pay it forward and have continued to do so to this very day.