by Amanda Hara
WHITE HOUSE, Tenn. - It took two years to complete the adoption, but now a mid-state couple's new daughter could die before she ever gets to Tennessee.
The Armenian orphan desperately needs a surgery only American doctors can perform. The problem is, she'll only survive flying from Armenia on an air ambulance.
An air ambulance flight costs more $124,000, money the Hardin family in White House doesn't have, but that their adopted daughter desperately needs to survive.
David and Kathy Hardin already have 8 children of their own. But they wanted to help a child with severe needs that no one else would take.
The search led them halfway across the world, to an orphanage in Armenia and 4-year-old Karine.
Karine was born with Spina Bifida, and lives with a shunt to drain excess fluid from her brain.
But the shunt has become infected, and Karine must undergo surgery by Sunday.
Problem is, the Hardins don't want Armenian doctors performing the surgery.
"If we don't get Karine back to the states by Saturday then the Armenian hospital will do a surgery without sterile equipment, without gloves, without basic soap to wash the surgeons hands. We've got to get her out," David Hardin said.
Doctors don't think Karine will survive a commercial flight. Her only hope is an air ambulance, a ride that will cost $124,000. The Hardins simply don't have the funds.
"If she doesn't get out of there soon we don't know that she'll make it," Hardin said.
Time is running out, Karine must reach the states by Saturday in order to survive. The Hardins are asking for help, not to make their family bigger, but to make Karine's life a little longer.
"God has blessed us so much just with the opportunity to bring her home, to watch her grow and blossom and give her what she cannot have there, just a family and a future," Hardin said.
This upcoming surgery will be Karine's fifth operation in just two years.
We're told medical treatment is so poor in Armenia that the 4-year old weighs a meager 15 pounds.
Doctors at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital are aware of this situation and are on standby to treat Karine if she makes it here.
If you'd like to help the Hardin family save their adopted daughter, you can make a donation to the Karine John Hardin fund at the Hendersonville branch of Regions Bank.
A family friend is in charge of the money. It will be used on that very important air ambulance flight and medical bills.
You can also visit the following Facebook page for updates: http://www.causes.com/causes/588490-rescue-karine-hardin
Email: ahara@newschannel5.com
