RICHMOND, Va. -- Doctors, nurses and hospital staff lined the hallways for a special send-off celebration at St. Mary's Hospital for one of Central Virginia's newest residents.
"Oh, I cried. You only see stuff like that in the movies. We just had a really strong village to get us through," Tranika, baby Kasin's mother, said.
Kasin A'mir Harris is dressed to the nines, with his parents Tranika and Jayvon beaming with pride behind him. The little patient is leaving St. Mary's after more than 200 days in intensive care.
"There were days when we thought we weren't going to make it through," Tranika said.
Kasin and his twin sister Kaylee were born at 26 weeks along.
"At 23 weeks, that is just that point where we can start to think about saving babies. Mom and dad wanted us to go ahead and support him and his sister. He went to the operating room three times over the course of his short life," Ann Heerens with St. Mary's said.
Kasin entered the world weighing one pound and two ounces on April 8.
"Being that small and surviving that kind of surgery is a miracle," Anna Biawlski, a primary nurse, said.
After seven long and challenging months, he is nine pounds heavier than he weighed on his birthday.
"Every time that I walked in and would see him still there was amazing," Biawalski said.
Now at ten pounds, he is going home to be with his twin sister who was discharged from the hospital months ago. Kasin's mom and dad say they are overwhelmed by the hospital's support and dedication.
"I just don't have the words, we really, really appreciate the NICUnit. We appreciate St. Mary's so much for everything that they've done for the 221 days that we've been here," Tranika said.
Getting Kasin to this point was a team effort.
"Over 100 people, easy, took care of him during his stay," Heerens said.
Each person taking care of the baby gave the little fighter more strength to make it out of the hospital.
"He just never gave up. This kid, he had tubes in his body and wires all over him and he was still kicking and fighting the whole time," Heerens said.
The little miracle is now headed home to join his twin sister and the rest of his family.
"We're just thankful," Tranika said.
