Meet Lace Westfall from Woodsfield, Ohio.

On the outside, she’s a spunky, smart six-year-old with curly blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes and an ornery grin.

On the inside, she’s had a Ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt on her brain since she was six weeks old.

Lace’s journey started when she and her twin sister, Lainey, were born at 27 weeks and six days to parents Caleb and Hannah.

When two heartbeats were detected at Hannah’s eight-week appointment, they were shocked. After her 24-week checkup, Hannah was transported by eSquad to WVU Medicine J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital where she was put on bedrest due to fluid leakage. Three weeks later, the Westfall twins were born. First came Lace at 2 lbs. 10 oz, then came Lainey, 2 lbs. 6 oz.

They would spend their first 69 days of life at the hospital in the WVU Medicine Golisano Children’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) while Hannah stayed nearby at the Ronald McDonald House.

Lace had severe bleeding on both sides of her head that was not resolving as Lainey’s had. The WVU Medicine Golisano Children’s Neuroscience Center team made the decision to place a VP shunt once Lace was strong enough. After receiving this news, Hannah and her mom, Lisa, were devastated. While sitting in the cafeteria, Hannah felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to find Lace’s doctor on his lunch break. He reassured her that the team would take good care of Lace.

This would be the first of many instances of compassion the Westfalls encountered.

On September 25, 2019, Lace successfully underwent the VP shunt placement surgery at 56 days old. Her determination shined early when she quickly began to catch up with Lainey.

The Westfall party of four finally returned home and life slowly returned to normal. Well, their new normal.

Lace continued seeing the Neuroscience Center team and received additional resources through “Help Me Grow”. When Lainey started hitting gross milestones but Lace didn’t, Hannah knew, for sure, something was “wrong”. In the midst of uncertainty of her development, the shunt was still doing its job.

At nine months old, Lace wasn’t crawling or sitting up and began outpatient physical therapy. Her physical therapist agreed something wasn’t “right” and helped Hannah push to get answers. The path for answers was extensive with many medical professional stops along the way - including orthopedics and pediatrics. Cerebral palsy was brought up as a possibility but doctors weren’t quite ready to give a diagnosis.

When she wasn’t walking by age two, Hannah made the difficult decision to order a walker. The next day, Lace took her first steps. While this was a huge relief, there was still so much uncertainty around her future.

After all the doctor visits, Lace’s doctor suggested the WVU Medicine Golisano Children’s Cerebral Palsy and Spasticity Clinic. In February 2023 she would receive an official diagnosis: spastic diplegic cerebral palsy.

These days, Lace goes to clinic every six months where she is given an extensive look top to bottom by her neurologist, orthopaedist, neurosurgeon, physical therapist, occupational therapist, and ophthalmologist. The drive to Morgantown is nearly two hours, so having a “one stop shop” for nearly all appointments is a game changer.

Leading the charge at the clinic is Elizabeth McQuade, M.D. whom Hannah describes as kind, calm and so knowledgeable. Lace adores her and her nurses. In addition to regular check-ups, Lace also receives Botox injections in her right foot every three months.

When you ask Hannah about their experiences at the clinic and WVU Medicine Golisano Children’s as a whole, she will tell you they saved them and are a big part of their support system. She says they’ve always guided and respected her and her concerns. One of the many moments of compassion she recalls is being told by the cerebral palsy clinic team, “you’re doing a great job, mom, and it shows”, which brought tears to her eyes.

“I really want to highlight that moment because sometimes as a parent that’s all you need to keep going and overcome the days when you maybe don’t feel so great,” Hannah said.

If you ask Lace, she will tell you her favorite part is the treasure box when she’s done followed by a trip to Olive Garden.

So, who is Lace today? She is a determined, curious, funny and fiercely independent Kindergartner. She loves all things Paw Patrol, farm animals and books but her stuffies the most.

Lace wears braces on her feet and is still in outpatient physical therapy where she learned to ride a bike with training wheels and loves to swim. She is full of ornery expressions to make her baby brother belly laugh or her twin sister mad. She is full of sass, blunt and honest and does things on her own timeline.

More importantly, she shows everyone she meets what resilience looks like - the Lace way.