Family thanks NICU team, surgeon who saved daughter
Year-old girl born with condition that caused her stomach and intestines to protrude from her abdomen
September 23, 2014
Little Irelynn Gossett had five surgeries before she was a week old to correct gastroschisis, a rare birth defect that left her stomach and intestines protruding from a hole in her abdomen. Now, nearly a year later, Irelynn and her parents returned to the UCI Health neonatal intensive care unit to thank the team that saved her life.
Irelynn's parents, Brittney and Robert Gossett, presented pediatric surgeon Dr. Mustafa Kabeer with the inaugural Avery's Award For Excellence in Pediatric Surgery, sponsored by the Avery's Angels Gastroschisis Foundation. They also thanked the doctors and nurses who cared for Irelynn throughout the 81 days she spent in the neonatal ICU at UC Irvine Medical Center, undergoing multiple surgeries to rebuild her gastrointestinal tract and treatment to help her body absorb nutrients.
See their story today, Sept. 23, during the 4:30 p.m. KCAL9 and 5:30 p.m. KCBS2 newscasts and Wednesday, Sept. 24, in the Orange County Register.
Photo: Irelynn Gossett with UCI Health nurse Summer Coleman.
