The LEILA Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating parents/caregivers on the importance of infant/pediatric CPR, as well as increasing awareness & research for the use of therapeutic hypothermia to treat/prevent brain damage. The LEILA Foundation was established in early 2009 by Alby & Krissy Natalini, nearly one year after the couple technically "lost" their little angel, Leila Julianna, after she suffered from an unexpected cardiac arrest in her sleep at only three days of age. The Chesterfield, VA parents fearfully performed infant CPR on their newborn daughter, their youngest of four children, on their living room floor after waking from a nap to feed her & finding her pulse-less & unresponsive on their first evening home from the hospital after Leila's birth. Leila needed continuous resuscitation during the 16 minute ambulance race to the nearest emergency room as well as an additional 22 minutes in the ER, as trauma unit doctors & nurses worked desperately to save her life. Finally... a heartbeat. But that was just the beginning. The newest Natalini was transported on advanced life support to St. Mary's hospital in Richmond, VA, where she was almost immediately treated with therapeutic hypothermia, also known as "infant/newborn brain cooling" treatment. This continued for approximately 24 hours, after which neurologists monitored EEG's of Leila's brain wave activities for about a week. It was unequivocally determined that there was no brain activity, & that Leila's life support should be discontinued, allowing her to pass away. Alby & Krissy were not ready to give up on their baby girl just yet... After much prayer & thought, research on Leila's condition, & a few signs from the Heavens, they decided to stick it out & continue Leila's life support. After nearly a month in pediatric intensive care, Leila victoriously ditched her life support equipment & medications & began the first steps of what would be years of rehabilitation, recovery &...that's right, a MIRACLE STORY. Because of the gift of this MIRACLE - this medical mystery - that Alby & Krissy were so BLESSED to receive, they felt in their hearts it would only be fitting to share Leila's miraculous story, spread the HOPE that it so clearly defines, & possibly even gain the joy of helping save lives in the future. This is how The LEILA Foundation came into existence.
