By Jeremy Walsh ? staff reporter
PALO ALTO — The condition of the 2-year-old daughter of a Kelseyville High School graduate has improved in the weeks since doctors amputated the young girl”s feet and right hand.
Malyia Jeffers, daughter of Leah Yang and former Kelseyville resident Ryan Jeffers, contracted Streptococcus A (strep A) late last year.
The infection spread quickly through her body, forcing doctors to amputate the appendages in mid-December in order to prevent further spreading.
“Malyia”s doing much better. She”s off of life support,” family friend Tanya Whitfield said of Malyia”s condition in the recent days.
The parents, who live in Sacramento, remain in Palo Alto with Malyia at the Lucile Packard Children”s Hospital at Stanford, according to Whitfield.
On Thursday, Ryan held Malyia for the first time since arriving at Stanford, Whitfield said.
The family”s story has gotten significant local and some national coverage in recent weeks.
The Sacramento Bee published an article on Dec. 31 detailing Malyia”s story.
The Bee article said the family waited for five hours in a Sacramento hospital emergency room in early December, when Malyia”s infection would have been in an earlier stage.
Malyia”s symptoms worsened during the ER wait, the article said.
Fox 40.com, the website operated by Sacramento”s local FOX affiliate, published a story on Jan. 2 describing Malyia”s story as well.
CNN published a story on its website on Jan. 13, detailing Malyia”s condition and focusing on emergency room waits from a national prospective.
Family friends created a website in December where concerned citizens could donate money to the Jeffers family. Donations totaled just more than $2,300 when the Record-Bee first reported Malyia”s story on Dec. 24. As of Thursday, more than $42,500 has been raised for the Malyia”s parents.
Visit http://jeffersfamily.chipin.com/ryan-jeffers-and-family for more information on how to contribute.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
