Our community is full of wonderful things but the children are its biggest asset. One of the best examples comes in the form of seven-year-old Tayt Andersen or, as some of you might know him as, Ellen Degeneres’s boyfriend.
This story came to be when my kids and I were at Leo’s Place for dinner. The place was filled with its usual uproar when I started to hear people around me say “Hey, it’s Ellen’s boyfriend” and “There’s the kid from TV.” Next thing I knew, Tayt and his “entourage,” which was made up of adoring children, passed by. My own kids were beside themselves with the excitement of seeing Ellen’s boyfriend in person. I promise I’m not a crazy stalker, but after watching Tayt interact with his family and fans, I knew what a special child he is. If anyone in this world deserves the label of “Rock Star,” it’s him.
The Beginning
Tayt’s story begins more than seven years ago. When his mom, Chrissy Andersen was 25 weeks pregnant with Tayt, her second child, doctors told her that his heart had severe abnormalities. The final diagnosis was hypoplastic left heart syndrome, hydrocephalus and spastic paraplegia which, in laymen terms, means his body is not able to pump blood to his heart or lungs.
“Doctors pulled up a picture of a heart and said, ‘This is a normal heart,’ and then they pulled up a picture and said, ‘This is your baby’s heart.’ It was gone, it was like there was nothing there,” says Chrissy.
Tayt came into this world on October 4th, 2005 at 30 weeks gestation. At four days old, he had his first open heart surgery which lasted more than 17 hours. Two days later, he bled internally and flat lined. He was dead for four minutes before doctors could bring him back to life.
Since then he has had nine open heart surgeries, 24 shunt revision surgeries and three other life-saving surgeries. He has been life flighted 10 times, flat lined six times and has spent more than three-fourths of his life in hospital beds. Doctors said he would never eat, walk or talk. But speaking as someone who’s seen this blessed child in action at Leo’s Place, this isn’t the case. He’s a walking, talking seven year old boy who was crawling all over the in door play equipment. In other words, he’s a living miracle who all of us can learn so much from.
Finding Ellen
How do you pass so much time in a hospital room? For Tayt, The Ellen Show became his favorite pastime. Ever since he was a toddler, doctors’ visits and therapy session have been scheduled to leave 4-5 p.m. open. That’s when Ellen’s show is on.
“It’s kind of depressing when you live in a hospital. As Tayt got older, that’s what he wanted to watch. He just loves her,” says Chrissy. “She’s been a blessing. It’s the one thing that makes him smile.”
His one wish was to go to Disneyland with Ellen. While doctors describe Tayt as “terminally ill,” no one knows how long he has. This means that Tayt does not qualify for the Make-A-Wish foundation. But as you can imagine, medial bills and traveling expenses for constantly going to Primary Children’s didn’t made it feasible for the family to visit California.
Granting a Wish
Thank goodness for the days of social media. In November of 2012, friends and family started a simple Facebook page called Tayt’s Wish. Local media covered it and, before long, people began posting on The Ellen’s Show Facebook page about a little Idaho boy who desperately wanted to meet her and go to Disneyland.
Good thing Tayt picked one of the sweetest people in Hollywood to fall in love with. By January of 2013, The Ellen Show was onboard and reached out to the Andersen family. Before they knew it, they were on a plane, heading to California where, on January 21st, Tayt got his wish to meet Ellen and dance with her on her show. Not only that, Ellen sent them all to Disneyland and presented Chrissy with a check for $10,000 from Shutterfly.
Now that Tayt’s had his wish granted, this little one needs another miracle. He’s been denied for a heart transplant three times because the medial staff is not sure Tayt’s body would accept a new heart. Plus getting a pediatric heart is rare because there aren’t as many children donors as there are adults.
“Everyday I have him I count as a gift,” says Chrissy. “I'm so thankful I have a special little boy that reminds me I need to try harder to forgive and let things go and to try and love everyone like he does.”
Doctors can continue to operate on Tayt to keep him going but, at some point, he will need a heart transplant. The Andersen family plans to keep petitioning the transplant board as many times as it takes to get Tayt on the list. Until then, Tayt, his parents and brothers’ Gage and Jace will take advice from Ellen’s Finding Nemo character, Dory. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.
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Keep up-to-date with Tayt! Follow Tayt’s Wish on Facebook.