Appearing on “Fox & Friends Weekend” Saturday morning to discuss the terrible medical dilemma facing their family, the parents of a teenage girl who is not vaccinated against COVID-19 revealed that her daughter has not been able to follow through with the kidney transplant she needs at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina.
Chrissy Hicks, the mother of 14-year-old Yulia Hicks, recounted her conversation on the subject with a medical official.
“I said, ‘So you’re basically telling us that if she doesn’t get the vaccinethen he’s not going to get a transplant,'” Chrissy Hicks said. “And [the medical employee] He said, ‘Yeah, that’s the only thing stopping us.
DR. BEN CARSON SPEAKS OUT AGAINST THE NEW BIVALENT COVID VACCINE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
Chrissy and Lee Hicks from North Carolina adopted their daughter Yulia from Ukraine almost two years ago.
The couple have eight biological children and three adopted children, the program noted.
A hospital has reportedly denied 14-year-old girl Yulia Hicks a kidney transplant because she is not vaccinated against COVID-19.
(FoxNews)
the girl suffers from a rare degenerative kidney condition known as Loken Senior Syndrome, which requires a transplant, according to reports.
Although she is not vaccinated against COVID, she has had the coronavirus, so the parents believe that she is protected by natural immunities.
Dad Lee Hicks said Saturday morning: “We’ve been up front as long as you’ve seen us at Duke, for the last two years, that we weren’t comfortable with the vaccine, with the COVID-19 vaccine. And so they knew the whole time we weren’t comfortable with this.”
Although a 14-year-old girl is not vaccinated against COVID-19, she has had the coronavirus, so her parents in North Carolina argue that their daughter is protected by natural immunities and should be able to go ahead with a kidney transplant. The parents appeared on “Fox and Friends Weekend.”
(REUTERS/Emily Elconin)
The father added, “And it wasn’t a requirement. It was… a recommendation, according to [the doctors] at the beginning, to the end.”
“They knew all along that we were not comfortable” with the COVID-19 vaccine, the parents said.
Lee Hicks said her daughter was given a “nine-hour job [medical] work” in October.
BULLYERS IN WHITE COATS? ‘TOO MANY’ HEALTHCARE WORKERS EXPERIENCE TOXIC WORKPLACES, STUDIES SHOW
“And that’s when they [the doctors and hospital officials] decided or told us that this was going to be a highly recommended requirement for her to get vaccinated before receiving the transplant.”
And he added: “So the phone call… That’s when [the official] He said it’s not a requirement, it’s [a] recommendation, but cannot get the transplant without the vaccine.”
Health officials “said it’s not a requirement, it’s [a] recommendation, but you can’t have the transplant without the vaccine.
Chrissy Hicks also said in “Fox and Friends Weekend” “We have retained a lawyer… to help us fight Duke [Hospital].”
He added: “But we don’t want Yulia’s life to be involved in the litigation. We hope that a medical center can step up and say, ‘Come here, we’ll give you the transplant without the vaccine.'”
The parents of 14-year-old Yulia Hicks appeared on “Fox and Friends Weekend” Saturday to discuss their daughter’s case.
(FoxNews)
The parents have created a website for their daughter, they said: YuliaGrace.com.
“If there is a medical center out there that will take [our daughter] as a patient, we would love for you to contact us,” added Chrissy Hicks.
Mom also said, “We have 11 children. So it’s not financially affordable for us to go out of state on our own to [get] Surgery.”
“Hicks, who is originally from the Ukraine, already had COVID and recovered.”
Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center, it notes on its website, is ranked among the best children’s hospitals nationwide in nine specialties by US News & World Report; provides care to thousands of pediatric patients each year.
BABY FORMULA SHORTAGE WILL CONTINUE TO WRECK HAZARD ON FAMILIES IN NEW YEAR: ‘I’M BEYOND STRUGGLES’
Fox News Digital reached out to the hospital system on Saturday.
Duke Health officials shared the following comment.
“Our hearts go out to all families facing the serious illness of a loved one, and we are committed to making organ transplantation accessible to as many eligible patients as possible,” the officials said.
“To protect patient privacy, we cannot comment on individual cases.”
“We have provided more than 10,000 organ transplants since 1965,” they continued. “Organ transplant eligibility is a complex medical determination informed by many health factors to ensure the best results. These determinations are made in consultation with families and medical professionals and follow the latest medical evidence and regulatory guidelines that must be followed by all transplant centers.
Duke Health further said: “To protect patient privacy, we are unable to comment on individual cases.”
Yulia Hicks, a 14-year-old girl, was denied a kidney transplant because she was not vaccinated against covid-19.
(FoxNews)
Alex Berenson, a former New York Times investigative reporter, shared on his Substack last Wednesday that the 14-year-old girl was denied a kidney transplant at Duke University Hospital because she was not vaccinated against COVID-19, as reported by Outkick.
outkick noticed in his article that “according to Berenson, Yulia Hicks would need to be vaccinated before the hospital performed her surgery. Hicks, who is originally from the Ukraine, already had COVID and recovered.” Berenson spoke with the girl’s parents.
“Yes, it is strongly recommended that all patients on the transplant list be fully vaccinated prior to transplant.”
Many hospital systems across the country recommend or require that patients on transplant lists be fully vaccinated prior to transplant.
The University of California San Francisco Health System, for example, contains “patient education” information that shares that guidance.
“Yes, it is strongly recommended that all patients on the transplant list be fully vaccinated prior to transplant,” the site says.
Human kidneys are shown in a cross sectional view. “We encourage transplant recipients to receive the COVID-19 vaccine when possible,” says one hospital.
(iStock)
He adds: “Once a person is immunosuppressed at the time of transplant, the response to a vaccine will be less robust than before.”
That site also says: “We strongly recommend that all eligible family and household members living with transplant recipients be vaccinated, including boosters. Transplant recipients are likely to have a suboptimal response to the vaccine, so the best way for all close contacts to protect themselves is to be fully vaccinated.”
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
In another example, the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, Marylandsays on its website that it “understands that transplant patients, both those already transplanted and those awaiting one, have specific questions related to the COVID-19 vaccine.”
Share the following frequently asked questions: “Should transplant patients be vaccinated?”
His answer: “Yes. We encourage transplant recipients to get vaccinated against COVID-19 when possible.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Brigham and Women’s Hospital in massachusetts shares this note on its website: “Like most other transplant programs across the country, the COVID-19 vaccine is one of several vaccinations and lifestyle behaviors required for patients awaiting a transplant of solid organ”.
It adds: “Transplant candidates must also receive seasonal influenza and hepatitis B vaccinations, follow other healthy behaviors, and demonstrate that they can commit to taking required medications after transplant.”
