The Kilkeary family of Pennsylvania will start the new year with an unusual gift, one that will protect the skin — and the life — of a young girl.

Faith Kilkeary was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a condition that left the entire left side of her heart underdeveloped.  Her first of three open heart surgeries in a process to reroute blood through her body was performed when she was only two days old.  Her next was four months later.

Although both surgeries went smoothly and Faith seemed to be responding well, shortly after her first birthday she began to change.  She grew less interested in food and seemed listless and tired.  The Kilkearys soon discovered the reason:  Her heart function was weakening.  "Her heart was tired," her mother, Julie explained.  Because of her compromised heart, the blood wasn't circulating efficiently, and she was starving her body of necessary oxygen.  By October, she had worsened enough that the Kilkearys took her to the hospital.  "She didn't have enough oxygen in her blood to digest her food," Ms. Kilkeary recalled.  "She couldn't get blood to her extremities, so her fingers and toes were blue."  Faith was placed as a top priority for a heart transplant.

On January 10^th, 2005  Faith Kilkeary underwent her third surgery, this time to receive a new heart.  She was eighteen months old.

"Immediately after the surgery, she was better," her mother recalls.  "She had an enormous scar, chest tubes encompassing her tiny body, yet she was sitting up in bed eating a popsicle completely calmly and happily." 

Today, Faith is three years old and wonderfully healthy.  However, heart transplants - like all organ transplants - bring with them a specific set of risks.  To reduce the chance that the body will see the new organ as an invader, the patient takes anti-rejection drugs that restricts the immune system's ability to fight off anything it senses to be invasive. However, the side effect of this immune suppression is that the body is left more vulnerable to infection and disease, from colds to cancer.

"We had gone to the dermatologist to have my husband's basal cell carcinoma removed," explained Ms. Kilkeary.  "And while we were there, our dermatologist Dr. Niren told us that Faith's skin was going to be very sun-sensitive, because of the immunosuppression from her medication.  She would sunburn much more easily, and her risk for skin cancer would be much higher."  The doctor recommended a new daily sunscreen, Anthelios SX.  Made with Mexoryl SX and recently approved by the FDA, it offers broad-spectrum protection, particularly against UVA rays, which are linked to the development of skin cancer.

"He said, ‘This is the sunscreen she needs to have.'"  Ms. Kilkeary recalled. However, with Faith's other medical expenses, the cost of each bottle was more than the Kilkeary's could afford.

A social worker familiar with the situation wondered if there was a way to get Faith the sunscreen she needed.  She contacted The Skin Cancer Foundation, telling Faith's story.  The Skin Cancer Foundation in turn contacted La Roche-Posay, the manufacturer of Anthelios SX, and the company immediately agreed to donate a year's supply of Anthelios SX to the Kilkearys.

"We understand that transplant surgery puts patients at a much higher risk for skin cancer,"  said Gene Colon, Director of Medical and Media Relations at La Roche-Posay.  "So when we heard of Faith's situation, we knew we wanted to help in any way we could."

"It's wonderful," said Ms. Kilkeary, of the donation. "Faith is doing amazingly well, and we'd like to keep it that way."   With Faith's new year's gift, chances are good that she will.