5-year-old bounces back after life-saving heart surgery
By Grace Rodriguez
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GUYTON, Georgia (WJCL) — A kindergartener from Guyton is back on her feet after undergoing a life-changing surgery. Five-year-old Rylan Haskins loves to dance, color and spend time with her Girl Scout troop. Last Halloween season, her family faced the scare no parent wants to think about.
“Trying to explain to her at that age what’s going on was difficult,” her mother, Ebony Haskins, said.
Rylan, then four years old, fell from a bounce house, causing her head and face to swell.
“Some people might have thought that I was over exaggerating with taking her to the hospital initially,” Haskins said. “We just did that on that initial fall. And, I just thank God that we listened, I listened to my gut.”
At first, specialists didn’t think Rylan’s injury was that severe. However, when the family saw another doctor in February, they discovered that Rylan had been born with a heart defect called an atrial septal defect. The condition, which had gone unnoticed, was revealed due to high blood pressure caused by her injury. She was referred to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, where they determined that Rylan would need open-heart surgery.
Rylan’s diagnosis meant she had to put her passions on hold.
“She’s been dancing since she was three, and it’s hard for her not to be able to participate, especially with her older sister going,” Haskins said.
Rylan underwent surgery on July 1 and recovered within two days. Just last week, she began kindergarten at Esther F. Garrison School for the Arts. She’s eager to return to competitive dancing and the Girl Scouts this fall.
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