NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. – A 9-year-old from Yulee received a life-changing cleft palate surgery thanks to a medical grant from United Healthcare Children’s Foundation (UHCCF).
Kaili was born in China on Dec. 11, 2012, with a cleft lip and palate. She joined her family in Dec. of 2014.
Kaili underwent multiple surgeries and procedures to repair the palate and her speech. A $3,000 grant from UHCCF was used to pay for her latest surgery.
“The grant from UHCCF was such a blessing to our family because it helped us pay the bills from this latest bone graft surgery,” Kaili’s family said. “These combined surgeries have enabled Kaili to eat properly, to breathe well, and to speak more clearly.”
Her family said she continues to make strides in her speech and articulation. They said in the past it was hard to understand her -- and that she would get frustrated and sometimes refuse to proceed with a conversation. But all that has changed.
“She now volunteers to read aloud in class, she reads out loud to me most nights before bed, and she recites Bible verses in front of her peers at church. She has blossomed thanks to all the work of so many professionals. We are forever grateful!”
Her success story comes amid National Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness and Prevention Month. The month aims to raise awareness and improve understanding of orofacial clefts (clefts of the lip and palate) and other conditions of the head and face.
United Healthcare Children’s Foundation (UHCCF) is a grant foundation that offers timely financial support to families to help with medical expenses not fully covered by the family’s commercial health insurance. In 2021 UHCCF has awarded $369,273 to 264 families across the state of Florida, a release said.
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