Hayley Kristian Johnson came into the world as a medical puzzle to the many medical teams that flew to the hospital after her birth to figure out her set of circumstances.

From the beginning, Hayley needed many orthopedic surgeries to replace missing bones and repair those that were fractured. After she was discharged from the NICU, she began having surgeries when she was 4 months old and continued having many major surgeries each year, including a 25-hour anterior and posterior spine fusion when she was 2½.

Throughout these surgeries and procedures, I felt supported by the many healthcare providers that came into our sphere. Somehow, together, we kept one another resilient in the face of dire predictions.

Once her years of surgeries ended, Hayley got to live a life of great adventure—snow skiing with friends, parasailing, hiking, biking, swimming in the ocean with dolphins at the Dolphin Research Center in Key Largo, Florida—taking every opportunity to live life to its fullest!

Hayley was a great teacher for all of us, especially in bringing joy to any situation no matter how difficult. Hayley passed away unexpectedly in 2005, and we celebrated her memory with 350 of her “closest friends” from every walk of life.

We are so supportive of Kyle’s Mountain House and any endeavor that supports children and families living with life-limiting circumstances.

-Tracy Price-Johnson, Mother of Hayley