Half Moon Bay Hero Helps Children From Uganda Get Life-Saving Care

HALF MOON BAY, CA — When times are tough, heroes emerge. We all know someone who's making a difference right now as we live through unprecedented and changing times.

Here at Patch, we've launched an initiative to help recognize these heroes making a difference in their communities. We’re working to let all your neighbors know about these outstanding people and their stories.
This submission comes from Antonia Ehlers who nominated Kayla Billington of Half Moon Bay

Local hero’s full name

Kayla Billington

Local hero’s home state

California

Local hero’s Patch

Half Moon Bay

How do you know the local hero?

Work colleague at Kaiser Permanente

What does the local hero do?

She is a NICU nurse at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center

Why do you believe the local hero should be recognized or honored?

Once in a while, a story comes along that touches your heart. For me, this is that story. Oakland Neonatal Intensive Care Unit nurse Kayla Billington, RN, is arranging lifesaving heart surgeries for children in Uganda. NBC Bay Area recently interviewed Kayla about her amazing work.

Here is a link to the story.

What's one thing you want everyone to know about the local hero?

It all began when Kayla formed a bond with a special little boy in Uganda, Patrick. Three years later, after he died in her arms at the end of an exhausting journey to a hospital in Kentucky, she vowed to continue to help other children like him. If his structural heart defect had been discovered and treated earlier, it would have been fairly easy to correct. In 2019, Kayla founded a nonprofit called Paty’s Project – named after the little boy she loved – which offers free heart surgeries to Ugandan children. Patrick’s little sister, Gift, also was born with the same defect. Kayla brought her to the United States as well, and she survived! Today, Gift is a thriving 5 year old.

This content is brought to our community in partnership with T-Mobile. Know someone making a difference in town? Nominate them as a local hero here.