Spring 2016
DONOR SPOTLIGHT: THE HARVEY FAMILY
A Ray of Sunshine in the NICU
Ryleigh Harvey, age 7, is a perfectly healthy, active little girl. The first grader loves art, dance,
and music class, enjoys school, and likes to watch Cutthroat Kitchen and help her parents cook.
According to her father Bo Harvey, Ryleigh has yet to find an activity she doesn’t enjoy.
In fact, any evidence that Ryleigh
ever spent time in the hospital is all
but gone.
Ryleigh and her twin sister
Huntleigh surprised their parents by
arriving 16 weeks early. Bo and Jenny
Harvey were spending time with family
just before Christmas when they
realized the girls weren’t going to wait
a full nine months to make their grand
entrance into the world.
“We weren’t prepared. We had no
plans,” Bo said. Obstetrician Belinda
Kohl-Thomas, MD, worked to prevent
the twins from being born too soon,
but Huntleigh arrived four days later
on December 27, 2008. Ryleigh
was born about a week later on
January 3, 2009.
Both girls had severe health
issues related to their premature
birth. Unfortunately, Huntleigh’s
underdeveloped lungs collapsed and
she passed away just 10 hours after
her birth.
“It is such a shock when you lose
a child like that,” Bo said. “There’s
not a more heartbreaking experience
I could think of. We could tell, though,
that the staff obviously had a very real
concern for us and wanted to take
the very best care of our girls. They
answered our really difficult questions
and talked us through what happened
with Huntleigh.”
In spite of their loss, the Harveys
had to be there for Ryleigh, who
went on to spend the first 88 days
In honor of Ryleigh and
Huntleigh, the Harvey Family
NICU Fund provides resources
for parents whose children are
currently in the NICU and for
those who have lost a child
in the NICU.
A N E W S L E T T E R B Y T H E S C O T T & W H I T E H E A LT H C A R E F O U N DAT I O N F O R F R I E N D S A N D S U P P O R T E R S O F M C L A N E C H I L D R E N ’ S