A young child in striped pajamas smiles in the foreground, with a hospital bed railing and a door visible in the background.

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🌟 Meet Dixie! 🌟Dixie is a sweet, giggly 3-year-old from Aurora, Missouri, who has a way of making people smile wherever she goes. Despite everything her little body has been through, Dixie continues to find reasons to laugh every single day. She loves playing peekaboo, making people laugh, and giving her baby dolls lots and lots of kisses. One of her favorite things in the world is hospital badges—so much so that she has a badge of her very own!Dixie has a rare SMARCA2 gene mutation along with epilepsy, neurological impairment, sleep apnea, chronic aspiration, severe GERD, a floppy airway, and Chiari malformation extending from C1 to C2. She has already undergone brain surgery to address her Chiari malformation. Dixie is also experiencing progressive chronic lung disease and is losing lung capacity. After spending much of the last two months in and out of the hospital because of aspiration and unexplained periods of unconsciousness, her medical team is preparing for a tracheostomy in the near future. Dixie is not yet able to walk or crawl, and she has very poor body tone and no sense of danger. Because she cannot safely reposition herself, nighttime can be especially dangerous. She has recently learned how to get herself over the side rail of her current bed and has fallen onto her head. She also frequently has seizures at night and experiences significant oxygen desaturations. Dixie requires oxygen and continuous pulse oximeter monitoring while she sleeps. She chokes on her own oral secretions as many as 6–8 times a night and frequently aspirates. She will grab anything within reach—including sheets—and can pull them around her face or body. She also puts objects in her mouth without understanding the danger, creating a serious choking risk. For Dixie’s family, nighttime means constant vigilance. Her mom needs to be able to see and respond to changes in her oxygen levels, seizures, aspiration, or breathing as quickly as possible. A safety bed would provide Dixie with a secure environment designed around her unique needs while giving her mom the peace of mind to know that Dixie is protected throughout the night. Dixie has already faced more medical challenges in her three little years than most people face in a lifetime. Yet somehow, through all of it, she still giggles. She still plays peekaboo. She still loves her baby dolls. And she still finds ways to make the people around her laugh. Now, we want to help give this sweet girl a safer place to sleep—and give her family the opportunity to rest a little easier, too. 💜

A Bed for Izzy

Dixie's Bed

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