Mikaële Laure Personna

"Thanks to the care she receives and the state-of-the-art equipment available to her, Mikaële Laure can live a fulfilling life. I'm grateful to everyone who gives." — Rachelle, Mikaële Laure's mother

 

Eighteen months

Mikaële Laure was born on May 11, 2017, and she did not leave the hospital for eighteen months. Eighteen endless months during which the beginning of her life unfolded surrounded by machines, medical appointments, and hospital routines. 

While other families built memories through stroller walks, first steps, and everyday moments, Mikaële Laure and her parents created their own version of normal inside a hospital room.  

Outside, life keeps moving. Inside, time seemed to stand still.

When home feels far away 

Mikaële Laure was born at the Jewish General Hospital, where she was being monitored for a heart abnormality. On the day she was supposed to go home, doctors discovered a mass on her left arm. 

Then, another concern emerges. She is struggling to breathe. She is rushed to the Montreal Children's Hospital, where doctors perform countless tests and procedures to stabilize her.  

For a short time, her condition improves. Then, her breathing worsens again. She is admitted to the intensive care unit and placed on a ventilator. Every attempt to remove the breathing tube fails. Eventually, doctors perform a tracheotomy to help her breathe and create an opening to her stomach so that she can be fed.  

The mass discovered shortly after birth is not the only one. Non-cancerous masses are also found on her head, abdomen, and neck. One of the masses is pressing against her throat and preventing her from breathing properly.  

Days become weeks. Weeks become months. Specialists keep coming, as do the surgeries and tests. Still, no lasting solution appears. 

"We try to face it with courage because illness is part of our lives. But when it hits so suddenly, it shakes you, and you do your best to adapt." says her father, Fritzner. 

A comeback against the odds

Eighteen-month-old Mikaële Laure relies on oxygen and tube feeding, but she is finally stable enough to go home. For the first time, she can be with her parents and her older brother, and her family can settle into a gentler routine. The daily trips back and forth to the hospital are over. 

Progress comes slowly for Mikaële. But she makes progress at her own pace. Somewhere along the way, she reconnects with her passion for dancing. Even as a toddler, Mikaële Laure was dancing in her hospital crib. Now, she discovers just how much she loves it.

The beginning of many firsts 

At seven years old, Mikaële Laure undergoes major airway reconstruction surgery. The operation is expected to last six hours. 

It lasted sixteen.  

For Rachelle and Fritzner, every passing hour feels endless. Altough a nurse checks in several times, the waiting is still agonizing. "When faced with stress, the brain tends to protect itself and forget certain details." recalls Rachelle.  

Using small pieces of Mikaële Laure's ribs, surgeons rebuild her airways. Finally, she can say goodbye to the tube in her trachea. Exhausted, her parents are awakened. The surgery has successfully worked. 

Their daughter can breathe on her own for the first time.  

This marks the beginning of many more firsts. The first time she can speak freely. The first time she can jump into a pool without worrying about her tracheostomy tube. The first time she can sing. Laugh loudly. And let her voice fill the room.  

For the first time, Mikaële Laure is discovering her own voice, its sound, its emotions, and its possibilities.  

A fulfilling life 

Today, Mikaële Laure's story is no longer defined by hospitals and machines. Medical appointments remain part of her routine, but they no longer define her.  

She is growing up, going to school, and dancing with passion. She’s becoming more and more herself every day. The courage that carried her through her earliest days is still with her. She moves forward with confidence, supported by her extraordinary strength and her family's unwavering love. 

Illness has no place in a child’s life. 

– Rachelle, Fritzner and Raphaël (13)