LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — When Kingston Bryant was born weighing just 455 grams — about 1 pound — doctors weren’t sure he would survive.
He arrived at just 25 weeks, and his parents were told his lungs might never be able to grow strong enough to sustain him.
“They told us that he wasn’t going to make it,” his mother, Kaycee Hartman, said. “They brought the family in and told us that sometimes these kids, as they continue to grow, their lungs are just so premature that they wouldn’t be able to exceed a certain age.”
But Kingston proved everyone wrong.
From the day he was born, he fought for every breath. His family said there were many times during his first 16 months of life when they thought they had said their final goodbyes.
“The resiliency he’s shown this whole time is amazing,” Hartman said. “He’s going to make it. He’s going to do just fine.”
Now, Kingston is 21 pounds with a smile that stretches “a mile wide.”
For 622 nights, Kaycee stayed near Norton Children’s Hospital, spending almost every night at the Ronald McDonald House in downtown Louisville. She rushed over whenever the phone rang in the middle of the night, never wanting her son to be alone.
Nurse Tonya Smith was by Kingston’s side through most of his journey, watching over him six days a week. She formed a special bond with the family and made Kingston a rare promise: she would be there to see him go home.
“I’ve been doing this for 26 years, and I don’t make those promises,” Smith said. “But I did. It was devastating to not fulfill that for him.”
Smith eventually moved to Georgia for a new job, but she flew back to Louisville on Monday to keep her word.
“We promised the King a while back that he’s going to move his palace,” Smith said. “He’s moving to his palace tomorrow.”
On Tuesday, Kingston will finally go home for the first time.
“Kingston has shown us so much different,” Hartman said. “We’re going to take him home tomorrow, and he’s going to thrive.”
Kingston's journey has come at a cost, the Hartman family has established a GoFundMe page to help with expenses.
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