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A WAUKEE STUDENT ABRUPTLY BEING TAKEN OUT OF SCHOOL DUE TO A HEALTH CONDITION. GOT THE HOMECOMING OF A LIFETIME. WE INTRODUCE YOU TO AVA WHITTLE AND HER FAMILY ON WEDNESDAY. HER PARENTS SAY THIS WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE AMAZING STAFF AT HER NOW FORMER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. ONLY ON ����vlog. KAYLA JAMES INTRODUCES US TO HER TEACHERS, WHO MADE SURE SHE NEVER MISSED A DAY OF CLASS. WITH AN EASTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN MILWAUKEE. THERE’S AN END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR TRADITION WHERE STAFF AND YOUNGER STUDENTS CLAP OUT FIFTH GRADERS ON THEIR LAST DAY. BUT ON JULY 23RD, NEARLY TWO MONTHS AFTER THE SCHOOL YEAR ENDED, TEACHERS DRESSED IN PINK LINED THE HALL FOR A SURPRISE CLAP OUT. SHOULD WE TAKE A LOOK? AVA ONE. THEY’VE WAITED MORE THAN ONE SCHOOL YEAR TO DO. BECAUSE THIS CLAP OUT IS FOR AVA WIDELL. A 13 YEAR OLD GIRL NOW PREPARING FOR SEVENTH GRADE WHO MISSED OUT ON BEING CLAPPED OUT WHEN HER TIME PHYSICALLY IN SCHOOL ENDED. A FEW WEEKS INTO HER FIFTH GRADE YEAR, SO AVA HAD A WENT INTO HEART FAILURE. MUCH TO OUR SURPRISE, THEY SAID THAT SHE WAS GOING TO HAVE TO STAY INDEFINITELY UNTIL SHE RECEIVED HER NEW HEART. SO WE WENT UP ON A SATURDAY, AND THEN MONDAY WE KNEW WE WERE GOING TO BE ROCHESTER RESIDENTS. THAT WAS IN SEPTEMBER OF 2023. AVA, HER PARENTS AND TWO BROTHERS HAVING TO GET USED TO THE MAYO CLINIC, THINKING IT WOULD ONLY BE UNTIL THE HEART TRANSPLANT SHE RECEIVED HER GIFT OF LIFE FROM THE FAMILY. THAT AND THE DONOR THAT WE ARE FOREVER GRATEFUL FOR. IN FEBRUARY OF 2024, AVA’S LUNGS BEGAN TO STRUGGLE. WE ACTUALLY LOST HER KIDNEYS TRYING TO SAVE HER LUNGS. AVA HAD TO START DIALYSIS THAT APRIL AS SHE WAITED FOR A KIDNEY TRANSPLANT. MY BROTHER ACTUALLY DONATED A KIDNEY INTO THE EXCHANGE ON HER BEHALF BECAUSE HE DIDN’T HAVE THE SAME BLOOD TYPE, AND SO THEN THAT ALLOWED HER DONOR TO THEN DONATE ONE TO AVA, HER KIDNEY TRANSPLANT, HAPPENING JANUARY OF 2025. NEARLY 500 DAYS AFTER AVA WAS INITIALLY ADMITTED, SHE REMAINED IN THE HOSPITAL FOR MONTHS AFTER DUE TO COMPLICATIONS. NEVER LOSING HER SPIRIT OR GETTING LEFT BEHIND IN SCHOOLWORK, BOTH DUE IN LARGE PART, HER PARENTS SAY, VERY DEMURE, VERY DEMURE TO HER TEACHERS, WHO AT THIS POINT ARE MORE LIKE FAMILY. WE HAD TWO TEACHERS THE NIGHT OF TRANSPLANT AND THEY WERE UP THERE ALL NIGHT. THEY DIDN’T GO BACK TO THE HOTEL. THEY WERE UP THERE FOR 15 HOURS WITH US. THOSE TEACHERS, WE REALLY ARE VERY CLOSE. OUR AVA’S FOURTH GRADE TEACHER, MANDY ESSER, AND FIFTH GRADE TEACHER JOSH SCHOEN. WE WEREN’T SURE WHEN WE’D SEE HER AGAIN. WE CERTAINLY DIDN’T THINK IT WOULD BE TWO YEARS. ALMOST TWO YEARS LATER, ALMOST TWO YEARS BEFORE THEY WOULD SEE HER IN EASTON ELEMENTARY AGAIN. BUT THEY DIDN’T GO THE ENTIRE TIME WITHOUT SEEING AVA. WE HAD A AN IPAD ON A TRIPOD JOINING HER CLASSMATES AND TEACHERS REMOTELY. SHE DIDN’T WANT TO MISS A SECOND OF SCHOOL. AND MANDY AND JOSH, AS WELL AS SOME OF THE OTHER TEACHERS AND STAFF, DIDN’T WANT TO MISS A MOMENT OF AVA, SOME MAKING MORE THAN TWO DOZEN TRIPS IN THE LAST TWO YEARS TO SEE HER TRYING TO PLAN THINGS THAT WERE FUN FOR HER TO DO, JUST TRY TO SPREAD JOY WHILE WE WERE THERE, KEEP HER COMPANY AND JUST GIVE HER LOTS OF LOVE. A LOVE THAT WAS FELT AND HEARD. WEDNESDAY AS THE BAND AND AVA’S CLASSMATES AND FRIENDS GO HOME, GATHERED TOGETHER AT A NEARBY PARK CELEBRATING HER RETURN AFTER A FULL 682 DAYS AWAY IN ROCHESTER. WHEN YOU WALK INTO OUR SCHOOL, THE FIRST THING THAT YOU SEE IT SAYS, TOGETHER WE MAKE A FAMILY. OUR STUDENTS, OUR STAFF, EVERYONE IS PART OF THAT FAMILY. AVA IS STILL ON A ROAD TO RECOVERY, ONE INVOLVING MEDICATION, DOCTOR’S VISITS AND MORE. BUT IF YOU ASK HER FAMILY, BEING HOME IS THE BEST MEDICINE. BEING SURROUNDED BY HER COMMUNITY AND HER FRIENDS AND JUST DOING NORMAL 13 YEAR OLD THINGS, I KNOW THAT’S GOING TO DO. HER BODY AND HER HEART SO MUCH GOOD AFTER SO LONG IN THE HOSPITAL IN WAUKEE. KAYLA JAMES, ����vlog EIGHT NEWS IOWA’S NEWS LEADER. WHAT AN INSPIRATION. AVA’S PARENTS SAYS SHE WILL BE STARTING THE SEVENTH GRADE THIS UPCOMING YEAR THANKS TO HER DETERMINATION. AND OF COURS