HERSHEY, Pa. — Penn State Health Children's Hospital held a special patient discharge today for an infant who's never lived anywhere but the hospital.
Kristen Kuhn and Josh Kauffman were able to take their nearly 9-month-old son, Liam home to Bendersville, Adams County for the first time today.
Liam Kauffman was born on October 3, 2023, at Penn State Health Children's Hospital in Hershey. He entered the world via an emergency C-section in the hours following Kristen's 37-week checkup, when doctors detected fetal heartbeat conditions.
Soon after his birth, additional concerns and medical diagnoses began to pile up. In addition to heart ailments, Liam's respiratory and lymphatic systems were seriously compromised.
He was transferred to another children's hospital in November, but later developed complications and was reintubated and brought back to Penn State Health Children's Hospital in February to be closer to family.
Ever since Liam has resided in the NICU... until today.
On Tuesday morning, care team members who worked with Liam and his family prepared a special sendoff. Liam, Kristen and Josh were joined by nurses, social workers, members of the Child Life team and others to celebrate Liam's big day.
In the first few months of his life, Liam, a CMN Miracle Child, has had 10 major surgeries and 22 sets of chest tubes put in.
Liam's care team has helped prepare his parents for his release day by training them to care for his tracheostomy and home ventilator, which require 24/7 monitoring and his central line (which delivers medication) and feeding tube.
Liam was taken home in a car decked out with writing celebrating his big day.
