Transplant recipient returns to surprise team at St. Louis Children’s Hospital in time for the holiday
By David Amelotti
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ST. LOUIS, Missouri (KMOV) — For Kolby Westmoreland and his team of doctors at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, a reunion inside the front lobby was years in the making.
“It’s a blessing to meet them all again. See them again. It brought happiness to my heart,” Westmoreland said.
The first visit in almost five years was intimidating for the former patient.
“When I was here for my transplants, I couldn’t do much,” Westmoreland explained. “I was stuck in a wheelchair.”
In 2005, Kolby, at age three, was diagnosed with Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis. It’s a rare disease targeting the bile ducts in the liver and can cause end-stage liver disease.
“It was on a Friday night; I’ll never forget it,” Kolby’s grandfather, Mark Appleby, shared. “It’s in the ICU. You could see the fear in the team’s eyes. It wasn’t looking good at all.”
Over the next seven years, Kolby would need three liver transplants.
“The odds were against him,” Appleby shared. ”He was bleeding. His liver kept clotting, there were two back-to-back because it kept clotting. They never game up on Kolby.”
The third and final transplant was a success, just two days before Thanksgiving in 2012.
“This place saved my life, 110%,” Westmoreland said.
“They had to think this is one of those that won’t make it,” Appleby shared. “The main one to give thanks to is the good Lord above, but thank God he placed us with this team to take care of Kolby and not give up.”
Eleven years later, Kolby is 21 years old and engaged.
As time has passed, he and his grandfather Mark have developed a love for racing cars. That’s what inspired a charity race, raising money to donate $6,000 to the Children’s Hospital Foundation as a thank you for his team’s life-saving skills.
An extremely kind gesture, but there was one more reveal Kolby and his family were most excited to share. Kolby’s baby girl, Presley.
“You know his life got saved. Now he gets to experience being a father,” Appleby said.
“He had to overcome so much. Now, to see him as a young adult, maintaining all the things you have to in your life with bringing a kid into this world is amazing.”
For Kolby and his family of four, soon to be five with a baby on the way, he says everyone is happy and healthy and it’s all thanks to his second family.
“Just the journey to look back over the years to see what I’ve been through and to walk in here with another blessing, that’s just a blessing from the man above,” Westmoreland said.
The Westmoreland’s donation to St. Louis Children’s Hospital will help with a variety of projects, including pill boxes for patients to organize their medications.
The hospital told First Alert 4 that the donation will also contribute to state-of-the-art medical equipment, research and expanding child health advocacy programs.
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