Powerful Pippi's Fight: Kaiya Wilkins Family Aid

Kaiya "Pippi" Wilkins is an amazing 12-year-old girl. She loves softball and rollerskating, playing for a 12u West York softball team and participating in a local roller derby league. She excels in school and is an avid outdoorsman who loves hunting and fishing with her family.

And now she's fighting for her life.

Two weeks ago, Kaiya was having fun and recording TikTok dances with her friends, as so many 12-year-old girls do, when she injured her leg. Doctors considered it a minor trauma, but unfortunately several healthcare professionals missed the signs of an internal infection. Now Kaiya is in the hospital with life-threatening complications that are putting her heart, lungs, and other vital organs at risk. She's already undergone one emergency surgery, and more will likely be needed—including the possibility of open heart surgery within the next 24 hours due to the stress the infection has put on her heart. This is an unimaginable situation.

Kaiya and the Wilkins family need our prayers above all else. But they also need our financial support. Kaiya's dad, Justin Wilkins, has been a resident of West York his entire life and is a beloved member of the community as a wrestling and softball coach, a neighbor, and a good friend to so many. As a longtime railroad employee, his job is secure while he stays by his daughter's side through this heart-wrenching time, but he will not draw a paycheck until he can return to work.

Our donations will help cover the Wilkins' living expenses while they tend to Kaiya's treatment, and they will also help offset what will no doubt be mounting medical expenses. We have set the initial goal at $25,000, but we hope to far exceed that because this is just the beginning of a long road for the Wilkins family.

The focus at the moment is Kaiya's survival, but the ongoing care that will be required for her recovery will not be inexpensive. Justin and his family have always put others ahead of themselves, being the first to lend a hand to friends and neighbors in need. Now their family needs us—their friends and neighbors—and anything we as a community can contribute will help.