A Newington family prepares for their daughter’s surgery and hopes to spread awareness.
Three-year-old Hailey Wetmore was born with a rare birth defect. It’s called cloacal exstrophy and it impacts her excretory functions.
“At first, we were told that Hailey may not live,” her mother Kyra Wetmore said. “We were told that Hailey may not walk. She would have this horrible life.”
Not even 24 hours after being born, she underwent a major surgery and now she has plans to undergo another one in less than a year.
“Hailey is thriving,” Wetmore said. “She’s defied every single thing that they told us she’d never do. All the odds that were against her.”
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The surgery is set for January 2026, and she’s expected to recover for at least eight weeks in Boston. But before the toddler sets off for Boston, she’s asking the community for help decorating her hospital room.
“She said what about fire patches, police patches and ambulance patches,” the 32-year-old mom said.
Kyra and her husband Justin are first responders, and both come from a long line of first responders. Hailey is also a big Paw Patrol fan, so the choice was natural.
“We plan on putting them all over her hospital room, so that when she does open her eyes, they’re right there and she can see the support and love from around the world,” she said.
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Hailey’s first patches came from her parents, but her uncle Sean and lifelong friend of Kyra hand-delivered his patch.
“Everybody got those kinds of families that you know you can call up in an instant,” said Sean Wearne, who works as a firefighter in Middletown. “They’re a big part of my life.”
Wearne isn’t the only local responder to take note. Wetmore took to social media to spread the word about her daughter’s request. In just one day, her post has over 1,000 views and she said she had someone from Germany tell her they sent a patch.
“Doing the patch thing is something so simple, yet so enlightening and comforting for people,” Wearne said.
While Hailey stacks up her patches, Wetmore said she hopes to continue spreading awareness about rare disease.
“A lot of people forget about rare disease, because you can’t relate to it,” she said. “I just hope that sharing Hailey’s story will inspire others to be more accepting and kind as well.”
Patches in support of Hailey can be mailed to:
Rocky Hill Volunteer Ambulance Association
Attn. Assistant Chief Hailey
PO Box 33
Rocky Hill, CT 06067
