Wyatt’s White Christmas | 2021

This is such a dear family, and I am so proud of them for creating the first ever Wyatt’s White Christmas this year at Henmick Farm & Brewery, catered by Chef’s Table Columbus. The event and auction successfully raised their goal of $10,000 to go towards aHUS research, and they plan to continue each year.

I think I’ll let Kelsey explain it best:

“Had you told us at 16 and 17…

that we would be where we are today, I think we both would have laughed. We met at a high school football game but didn’t speak again until bumping into each other in the school hallway six months later. The conversation was easy and the crushes were obvious. It took a couple weeks for us to actually hang out (Kelsey is to blame) but once we did it was nonstop from there. Late night texts, after school ice cream and backyard soccer. 

Leaving for college didn’t change much, we chased our dreams at different schools (several schools for Kyle), but always made time for one another. Even when basketball made it hard or gas was $4.00 a gallon.

Getting engaged in 2014 at Kyle’s basketball senior night couldn’t have been more perfect or defining in our relationship. Once Kyle (finally) graduated the adventure continued in Pittsburgh where the reality of hard work and making ends meet hit hard. The city was a blast, but Columbus offered better opportunities (and family), so we headed home.

The next few years were a whirlwind. We got married in September 2015, signed the papers to build a house in January 2018, and found out we were expecting Alden in October just a couple weeks later. It’s impossible to put into words the joy that little boy has brought into our lives. From the daydreams in our early 20s and conversations on wine Wednesdays, we were certain that multiple kids were always in our future, so when we found out in March 2020 (just with the start of a pandemic) that we were expecting again due just in time for Christmas – we were both shocked and thrilled. 

On November 28, 2020, things took a turn for the worst. We thought we were rushing to the hospital to welcome a baby when in fact we were given the complete opposite news. Due to a placental abruption, we had lost our son, Wyatt Leo. But it didn’t stop there, within days Kelsey was diagnosed with Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (aHUS) that posed a lot of questions for the future. What about the life we’ve planned since we were 16 and 17? What is the life expectancy with aHUS? What is the quality of life with aHUS? Were more babies possible? Because of the rarity of this disease these questions didn’t have clear cut answers. It was in the hospital that we had our first conversation and agreed this wasn’t stopping us from achieving everything we’ve been talking about for the last 13 years and if anything, we were adding to the list of to-dos and are determined to being a part of getting some of the answers we so desperately want and don’t want any future patients to have to ponder.

With serious determination and a Monstar team of doctors, Kelsey was off dialysis by January 2021 but still receiving biweekly treatments (this will be the case for the foreseeable future). The best news of all, we found out we were expecting again in March, and welcomed Emmitt on November 4, 2021. There are not enough adjectives to describe the hapiness he has brought us. We are proving to not just ourselves but everyone else that the story doesn’t stop because it didn’t go as written… it gets revised. 

So, with that, THANK YOU, because by simply reading this, you are now a part of our story. Thank you for helping us chase a new goal and dream of ours, bringing knowledge and awareness to aHUS and honoring our son, Wyatt Leo.

Cheers,
Kelsey & Kyle Duncan”