Insurance denied a sick infant emergency transport. So, Mark Cuban sent his private jet to save her life

The world can be a better place, especially when billionaires decide to use their wealth to help those in need. American businessman and TV personality Mark Cuban and his friend decided to lend a helping hand to a complete stranger after seeing a video on TikTok. Alexandria McMahon (@stella.v.cancer) has been sharing her 16-month-old baby girl's health journey on different social media platforms. Stella was diagnosed with infant T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, a form of aggressive cancer of white blood cells, and is being treated by Dr. Lane Miller at Children's Minnesota.

Due to complications, they required an urgent medical airlift to transport Stella to Cincinnati Children's Hospital. On March 21, McMahon shared a clip of a phone call with the insurance company where they denied Stella the urgent medical flight.

The video gained traction on TikTok and has garnered 3 million views so far. One of the viewers was Mark Cuban, who immediately reached out to Dr. Warris Bakhari, the co-founder of Claimable, a startup company that uses AI to fight insurance denials. He told Bakhari to handle McMahon's situation, and she received a phone call at 9:00 a.m. "So, the plan was to get her out to Cincinnati immediately and then take care of insurance later. And that's exactly what they did," she told Kare11.

By Monday morning, Stella and her family were on their way to Cincinnati Children's to get her transfusion, all expenses covered. "The infusion itself was 90 seconds. A minute and a half. I was like all of this for a 90-second infusion? But it was beautiful, and we needed it," she said.

A few hours after the transfusion, Stella and her family were back on a plane to Cincinnati. Midway home, they received a call from the insurance company saying that they are reversing their denial, but McMahon does not know the reason behind their decision. When they reached Cincinnati, Dr. Miller said they could see signs of improvement. The latest update on Stella's health was on March 29.

McMahon said that her daughter had to be admitted to the PICU, something they had wanted to avoid, but despite the situation, McMahon is grateful for everything and is hopeful that it is just the T-cells expanding in her baby's body. She revealed that the virus tested above the billions, and Stella is fighting hard against the disease. Stella is tired but okay. McMahon will be closing their GoFundMe for now, but she urged people to donate to other families who are battling infant cancer.

While going through chemotherapy, Stella contracted a viral disease called adenovirus, and needed new T-cells to fight this disease. The majority of her T-cells had been drained by chemotherapy, and there is only one hospital in the U.S. that offers adenovirus-specific directed T cells, which is Cincinnati Children's, and that's why the move was so important. The viral disease was damaging Stella's liver, colon, and lungs, and she needed the transfusion fast. Thankfully, due to social media and a stranger's kindness, Stella now has a fighting chance at survival.

According to Dr. Miller, "She has a rare form of a rare form of an already rare disease." The American Cancer Society lists Leukemia, Brain and Spinal Cord Tumors, Neuroblastoma, Wilms Tumor, Lymphoma, Rhabdomyosarcoma, Retinoblastoma, Osteosarcoma, and Ewing Sarcoma as some of the most common types of cancers found in children. Today, the 5-year survival rates for children with cancer have drastically improved from 58% in the mid-1970s to 85% with children living five years or more after they have been diagnosed.

More than 12.3k people have commented on McMahon's post, where she shared the phone call with the health insurance company. The people were enraged that a health insurance company denied someone who needed immediate medical attention the health care they deserved. Several others also shared their experiences, commented the names of flight companies that could help, and offered other means of assistance.

@malloryblackhinch shared, "Angel MedFlight! We used them when my insurance took over 2 weeks to transfer us to Cincinnati Children’s! It was 100% free and absolutely incredible! 48 hours from the time I called them to when we were in the air." @sportschick23  wrote, "Why do children with cancer or other disabilities have to deal with this? Insurance for them should be free." @bariatric_bestie added, "It should be illegal for insurance companies to deny anything a doctor recommends for health and wellness. Sending prayers to your family."

You can follow Alexandria McMahon (@stella.v.cancer) on TikTok for more health updates on Stella.

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