Behind Every Little Hero Is a Team of Big Ones

Although 5-year-old Wyatt can’t yet tell his own story, his bright eyes and magnetic smile speak volumes.

“He’s a ham,” his mom, Lacey, said with a laugh. “No matter what he’s doing, he draws people in.”

Wyatt was born at the Colorado Fetal Care Center (CFCC) at Children’s Hospital Colorado, where his care began even before he entered the world. Like his mom, Wyatt has achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism. Because of this, his birth was considered high-risk — but thanks to the expert team at the CFCC, his delivery was calm, supported and full of joy.

“It felt like they were waiting on us hand and foot,” Lacey recalled. “We got to hold him right away. It was a beautiful experience.”

For the first 18 months of his life, Wyatt was healthy. But then he seemed to catch a cold that wouldn’t go away. He became lethargic, pale and his lips turned blue. His parents rushed him to urgent care at Children’s Colorado’s North Campus, where the team immediately recognized the severity of his condition. He was taken by ambulance to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Colorado in Aurora, where he went into cardiac arrest and was placed on ECMO, a form of life support.

Wyatt spent three weeks in the hospital. He was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension, a condition made more complex by his small chest size, which limits his lung capacity and puts pressure on his heart. He’s been on oxygen ever since, though he’s recently started weaning down, a hopeful sign of progress.

Today, Wyatt is followed by a multidisciplinary team at Children’s Colorado, including specialists in cardiology, pulmonology, ENT and skeletal dysplasia. His care is coordinated, compassionate and deeply personal.

“They don’t just treat the diagnosis,” Lacey said. “They see Wyatt for who he is.”

The hospital’s support has extended beyond medicine. During Wyatt’s hospital stays the chaplains provided spiritual support, child life specialists brought comfort and play, while the Family Resource Center offered a place to rest and regroup.

Much of this care — from the advanced technology in the PICU to the wraparound services that support families — is made possible by generous donor support. That’s why Wyatt and his family are now giving back. They’re raising funds to support the very teams that saved his life — the PICU and Orthopedics — so more kids like Wyatt can receive the same expert, life-saving care.