On Saturday, May 11th, from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m., The Clubhouse in East Hampton will host a meaningful fundraiser to the Hamptons community in support of Kayla Kearney and the Kearney family.
Kayla is twenty years old and a beloved member of the East Hampton community. She was diagnosed with a pituitary gland brain tumor in December, and after undergoing surgery to remove it, several blood vessels were damaged, which resulted in the need for emergency surgeries and continually dealing with further complications as she remains in a rehabilitation facility with a long road to recovery ahead.
Kayla’s family has been staying near the hospital during this time with uncertainty surrounding how long she will remain in the rehabilitation facility. The fundraiser that will be held at The Clubhouse is to help the Kearney family ease some of the expenses with travel, time away from work, and other related financial burdens.
Kayla’s mom, Laura Kearney, spoke about what this fundraiser means to their family, what those in attendance can expect, and what she’d like the community to know about what Kayla and their family have been going through.
When asked about the mission of KK Strong, Laura said, “KK Strong is a fundraiser that has helped pay for housing, meals, and loss of income while in NYP Cornell Hospital in NYC for the last two and a half months, and to continue to help out the Kearney family with unexpected expenses and loss of income while Kayla is rehabilitating from a serious brain injury at Kessler Institute in NJ for the next few months.”
The KK Strong Fundraiser is run by Toni Ann Schmitt and Lorna Cook as co-chairs, along with a great team of volunteers. Laura says, “The community has been extremely generous and donated so many fun and exciting prizes that are being raffled off by a chance auction, as well as a silent auction for higher end prizes such as dinners by private chefs, signed sports memorabilia, golf foursomes at local famous private courses, Kayla’s original artwork, and Jimmy Fallon VIP tickets, to name a few. On top of it all, there will be a raffle for people to get the chance to win cash prizes.” She spoke further about the event, saying, “The Clubhouse has generously donated their venue and hors d’oeuvres, and Josh Brussell and JJ Sprout and the One Night Band have donated their talent for the event to play Kayla’s favorite songs. There is also free mini golf for the kids during the event as well as 20% off dining with your entry ticket.”
Laura explained in depth what Kayla has been through these past months and what she has overcome and continues to overcome on her road to recovery.
“Kayla was diagnosed in December with a pituitary gland brain tumor, which is a fairly ‘easy’ tumor to remove,” Laura says. “Normally, the neurosurgeon goes in through the nose endoscopically and is able to take out the tumor within a few hours, with a three-to-five-day hospital stay and a month recovery. However, when the neurosurgeon removed the tumor, it was found not to be what they expected. The three-to-four-hour surgery turned into a ten-hour surgery where they had to open her skull and remove some of it in order to allow her brain room for the inevitable swelling. Kayla had a paraganglioma, which is a rare type of brain tumor that attaches to the blood vessels. In fact, she is only the thirty second person in the world to have this type of brain tumor in this particular location of the brain. When they took out the tumor, it pulled down and ruptured many blood vessels during removal, which caused four evolving strokes to both sides of her brain.”
Laura continued to explain the tumultuous ordeal that Kayla went through until this point. “She needed several blood transfusions and required many, many surgical clips to stop the bleeding. She also struggled with vasospasm, tightening of her blood vessels in her brain which she had to be treated for several times through angiograms in the INR (interventional neuro radiology suite). She had to undergo six surgeries, including bilateral decompressive hemicraniectomies where they removed large portions of the skull on either side to allow room for brain swelling. She had an external drain to drain CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) from her brain. When they replaced her skull bone plates, they internalized this drain by placing a ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VP shunt) as she is now unable to drain that fluid on her own. She was placed in a medically induced coma (with the drug pentobarbital) in order to allow her brain to heal and stop swelling. During this time, she was on a ventilator and OG tube for feeding. Over time, she was able to start breathing on her own. She then got a tracheostomy placed and a PEG for feeding through her stomach. She was in NYP Cornell for sixty-eight days with lots of ups and downs, blood clots, DVTs and other challenges and scares, before being transported to Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation where she is undergoing major physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy to bring her back to us.”
Upon hearing the details of Kayla’s unimaginable situation, the strains on both her and her family on multiple fronts are more than apparent. Laura said she is really looking forward to the community getting together to rally for Kayla and to have a good time while doing so! The KK Strong event is going to be the place to be on May 11th!
During the event, there will be performances of Kayla’s playlist by JJ Sprout and the One Night Band featuring Josh Brussell. Laura says, “Kayla has a very wide range of music taste from 80s to 2000s to Sublime type bands to today’s rap and reggae. There is definitely something for everyone.”
The support of the East End community has been more important than ever to the Kearney family during this time and the fundraiser event will be another way for locals to show up for a family in need. Laura says, “The community support has been overwhelmingly amazing. We are so grateful to everyone for their support and love during the most difficult time of our lives. We honestly couldn’t have made it through without everyone’s well wishes, prayers, and support. We are all stunned and beyond grateful for the overwhelming love and support from our small tight community. It opened our eyes to how big our family truly is, spanning our whole community.”
Laura and the Kearney family hope everyone will have a fun night while supporting the KK Strong mission. She concluded by saying, “We have no idea what the future holds for our girl but are praying for a full recovery and will continue to stay by her side until she has recovered. Because of this event and the support we have been receiving, you are allowing us to give our full attention to our amazing girl and there is no way to truly express how grateful we are for that. I will spend the rest of my life trying to pay forward all the blessings that have been bestowed upon us. There are no words to express how grateful our family is. Truly, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
For more information about the event and how to get involved, visit https://clubhousehamptons.com.
