The Alberta family of a toddler with a rare condition is fighting with the province’s health-care system over its refusal to pay for a potentially life-saving treatment.
“Myla is such a happy, exploring little girl. She is always interested in figuring out her environment and how everything works and she’s very social and we always call her our little social butterfly,” said Samantha Lieskovsky, the toddler’s mother.
Samantha and her husband Tyler Lieskovsky live in Airdrie, about 30 minutes north of Calgary. Two-year-old Myla is their only child.
While she “enjoys every moment of being two,” Samantha says their daughter spent the first month of her life in the Neo Natal Intensive Care Unit at Calgary’s Alberta Children’s Hospital.
“They really weren’t sure what her condition was — it was presenting as different things,” Samantha said.
Finally, at six months of age, her family was provided with a diagnosis.
“After genetic testing, we were able to clarify that Myla was born with a complex vascular condition called capillary malformation-arteriovenous malformation (syndrome). It’s a really long word but it’s a CM-AVM for short.”
Samantha said the condition affects the way her daughter’s arteries and veins were formed and causes daily bleeding.
“It’s been causing declines in her vision, her hearing, as well as for her dental,” said Samantha, who explained there are four stages of the syndrome and Myla has Stage 3.
The toddler was assessed by specialists at both Alberta Children’s Hospital and Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children and the family says they were told her condition was too high risk or too dangerous to proceed with standard forms of treatment.
Typically it would be treated with either surgery or embolization — a procedure that blocks or slows down the blood supply to the affected tissues — explained Samantha.
Doctors tried other approaches instead.
“Myla was put on an experimental chemotherapy medication. She has been on that now since she was about 10 months old,” Samantha said.
“It was able to stop the progression of the swelling, but it hasn’t stopped the condition from worsening.”
The family said they haven’t found any treatments available for Myla in either Canada or the United States that could offer a potential cure.
“It’s just so discouraging,” said her father Tyler. “Myla is our only child. We’re not just gonna throw in the towel and say nope, I guess they said no, so we’ll move on with our life.
“You know we have to have to keep fighting for her.”
But now, a ray of hope has emerged from a specialist in Italy: Dr. Giacomo Colletti, a maxillofacial surgeon.
“We ended up reaching out to the Vascular Birthmark Foundation based out of the U.S. We traveled down there for the first time in October 2024 and we met with Dr. Colletti,” Samantha said.
The parents said the doctor was confident a new techniques he is working on would be able to help Myla.
“He wanted to wait another year until Myla had grown and was stronger. So we went again last October and met with him again for a final consultation. At that point we scheduled our procedure in Italy.”
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The procedure is called modified ElectroScleroTherapy, or MEST for short.
“So it uses a combination of both a strong medication as well as electrical pulses to directly target the malformed cells,” said Samantha, who claims the results so far have been very promising.
Last month, the family travelled to Italy for six weeks for the first round of treatment.
“Since the procedure, they’ve already seen a 90 per cent response from the malformed vessels — and so this is a really positive outlook — if we continue with treatment she could be potentially fully cured.”
“We have a follow-up coming in about a month where she’s going to need another scan and at that point we’ll be able to see how far the vessels have healed and then we can plan next steps from there,” said Samantha.
“It will likely be another treatment and then even once all the vessels have been addressed she’s going to need additional treatments for debulking and helping manage some of the other symptoms that have happened up to this point.”
In March the Lieskovsky family travelled to Italy to visit Dr. Giacomo Colletti for Myla’s first round of treatment.
To help cover the expenses — which cost about $100,000 per treatment — the Lieskovsky family applied to the province’s out-of-country health services committee.
According to its website, the committee is independent and operates at arm’s length from the government of Alberta and Alberta Health Services and “considers applications for funding of insured health services not available in Canada.”
Samantha’s sister also started a GoFundMe to help cover some of the costs.
While the family was still in Italy, in the middle of the treatment process, they were told their funding application had been denied.
“The first reason is that because it’s not a standard of care. So the treatment that we’re seeking isn’t a standard of care in Canada. But that just essentially means that because it’s practiced (in Italy). In Canada, it is considered experimental,” said Samantha.
“There is no standard of care for Myla here in Canada — so there’s no treatment options for her that are viable.”
“Secondly, they denied it because it’s not covered under the Alberta insurance plan that works with the committee, and because it is not covered under that insurance plan, they won’t cover it. So those are the two main reasons that it was denied.”
It was a frustrating development for Myla’s parents.
“Canada’s standard of care would just be to keep her on chemo medication for the rest of her life. This procedure, that is showing it’s a potential cure, will stop it and let her live this healthy life and let her hopefully have a normal childhood,” said Tyler.
“The procedure is a cure.”
Fortunately, the Go Fund Me account has raised enough money to cover the first round of treatment — but Myla will likely require several more rounds.
Global News contacted the out-of-country health services committee to for more info about why the family’s funding application was denied, but was were told the committee does not comment on individual decisions.
The office of Alberta’s Minister of Primary and Preventative Health Services, Adriana LaGrange, also said it “cannot comment on individual cases due to patient confidentiality.”
“We recognize that seeking specialized treatment for a serious or rare medical condition can be extremely challenging for patients and their families. That’s why requests for out-of-country health care funding are reviewed by the independent Out of Country Health Services Committee, made up of medical experts,” a statement from the province added.
Emma Elder, Chair Open Arms Patient Advocacy says her group has seen a 45 per cent increase in demand for patient advocacy services in the past year.
Emma Elder, chair of the group Open Arms Patient Advocacy, says the Lieskovsky family’s story of being refused funding for out-of-country medical care is a familiar one.
“It’s unfortunate that we’re seeing it in all facets of health care,” Elder said.
“We’re seeing this in cancer care, in mental health, orthopedics, in our emergency departments. Albertans are just not getting access to the care that they need in a timely manner and it is coming to the point where patients are becoming debilitated and more and more sick waiting for that care.”
Elder said it’s a reflection a changing health-care system and structure that is inaccessible to patients.
“Patients are just fed up. They’re frustrated with long wait times in our emergency departments, getting cancer care, getting scans, getting the treatments that they need.”
“It’s unfortunate that it has to come to this. It has to to come media attention and public awareness in order to drive change,” Elder said.
The Lieskovsky family is in the midst of appealing the committee’s decision, but with limited time to do so, they are also looking for legal help from someone who can help them put together what they believe is a compelling case.
“Programs like this are supposed to be supporting families during difficult times and in these really unique, rare cases, and we’re just met with barrier after barrier,” said Samantha.
“It’s not just about us. It’s just the process in general,” said Tyler.
“We have this out of country thing for when we need to go out of the country and get all these procedures that aren’t in Canada, but yet we’re being told it is not (available) in Canada so then it’s not being approved. B
“What’s the point of the out of country funding, right?”
They aren’t the only ones struggling.
“There’s other families that are in our predicament. If we could just be more clear about the procedures and even just change the procedures and guidelines just so that it’s easier for the families — not just us, but other families as well,” Tyler added.
Without the treatment, her parents said Myla will be in and out of the hospital her entire life and face declining health.
“This treatment is incredibly important for Myla, her health,” said Samantha. “With this treatment there is potential of not just a cure, but having a very full and beautiful life.
“Now we’re faced with a really uncertain future.”
any one who can see that beautifull baby and not help for nothing has no heart..there are people lots of them who are rich as hell step up guys come on please ,canada sents enough to forin countries they just paid a billion for a dam jet ….lighten you should no t have to beg to save that wee dolly OMG I will go to your go fund me page for sure and send it on to all friends
love you wee one you will win …ooooooooooooooooxx
My baby girl was in the hospital this past winter and for the longest time we didn’t know what was wrong. The mental toll it took on us is still hurting today. I can’t imagine the pain they are going through just trying to care for their daughter, and now they have to fight a battle on two fronts just to get her help? This is gut-wrenching. I hope the government step up and do the right thing. The people in the comments on this article are also massively cringe.
@Sally
Healthcare is provincial. Summer school might be in order
I looked up the treatment. No real data supporting it other than case studies and pilot studies. I feel for the family, but $100000 a treatment is way too much to pay for unproven treatments IMHO
But if it was a third world piece of garbage refugee/migrant the system would be bending over backwards to make sure she got all the treatments they needed.
I personally think that IF the government is not willing or able to pay for the kind of medical assistance we need then OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD create a LAW that says IF wealthy people need an income tax deduction and CAN PROVE they have paid to help a person and especially a child needs these kinds of SERIOUS surgeries they SHOULD pass a law ASAP and give canadians the kind of medical assistance that we need from those people who are generous enough and able an income tax break on doing it. Same as they get a break on giving money to political parties or donate homes or lands. This is more important to me.
But…sex change operations are funded? Something is certainly wrong with our health system!
This story is heartbreaking. In 2026, this should not be happening. We talk about modern medicine, innovation, and global collaboration in Canada, yet families are still forced to fight for life‑saving or life‑altering treatment when it is already available. Delaying care doesn’t just affect physical health—it can lead to long‑term emotional, social, and psychological harm for both the child and the family. This reflects a serious systemic failure that must be addressed.
Alberta and the country need to step up and fund this treatment. This little girl deserves the same services as anyonr else. If Canada can’t help and another country can than we need to support this family.
As much as helping people is a nice gesture. We are well into the hole when it comes to our debt in Canada, go-fund-me is really the only option. And people who do have enough money here are generous enough to help as they did. If we funded every rare illness directly through the government we wouldn’t be able to afford health care the way that it is now. With the gigantic wait times and having to go to the US to get onto realistic timelines before people pass away from those illnesses. That’s our current situation, I’ve had to do it, I’ve seen cancer patients have to do it, and I’ve seen people needing general surgery have to do it as well. I’m glad they got the funding needed but where the money comes from is important for everyone. There are rare illnesses that cost $1million to solve and thousands of people who have it. The better thing to be mad about is the companies that have these solutions and charge 2000% of what it would cost to make instead of making a modest profit. Most companies that are honest have a 1-3% profit margin, pay their employees well when they can, and donate where they can. We normalized dishonest business in the west and so we are here. There are a few companies that do this, a fairly large chunk of the economy when you look at it. The key they used is not letting investment be the primary source of funding, and retaining ownership so they don’t have investors telling them to increase profits every year. It’s become the primary way to build things instead of pooling money in other ways, but it’s a faceless group that keeps saying “I WANT MY MONEY BACK” like a bunch of loan sharks. If you make the mistake of letting your company be publicly traded it’s no longer in your hands. Additionally we let smaller companies be prayed on by larger ones in this process which kills the people actually trying to do good. HBE created their own FEMA response group for their state while giving all their employees stock in their company even if you work for a week part-time. Waffle house is so reliable that hurricanes are considered a minor problem and they pay their people well enough to go into them. As a result the US government uses them as a gauge for FEMA going into an area, HBE is usually there before the government giving people food, blankets, organizing rescue operations, and helping the locals within hours. Both companies owned by the original owners families instead of publicly traded. Hobby lobby is another example where they pay everyone well above minimum wage, they donate 50% of yearly profit to charity and they own museums to share world history.
Governments can be extremely cruel.
This is incredibly sad and would be a perfect reason to start a go fund me to help this beautiful child.
Get on Go Fund Me!!!
This is incredibly sad. I am sorry to hear this. I hope that those that are comments actually do their research, or even fully read the article. It is the provincial government that does the direct distribution of funds for medical care. It is not the federal government. The federal government simply distributes the funds to province and the province chooses how to use the funds. So, in this case, it is the Alberta UCP government that is responsible for denying this care. The UCP’s Bill 11, which creates a 2-tier healthcare system, is actually violating Canada’s Health Care Act. They would rather privatize our healthcare and give the money that could be going to care such as this to large corporations in the form of tax breaks. And this poor family will not be the only ones to feel this effect, in very short order. Soon all Albertans will feel the pain as they need to buy more and more insurance in order to get proper care in the province, not just special care. This is by design. If you want to see the impact of a privatized system, research what the average American pays per year on healthcare.
So, if you actually care about this family and this beautiful little girl, you will challenge the provincial government to properly fund public healthcare.
Have you looked into stem cell therapy as an option?
Why dont you take some of the money that Doug Ford is going to fet from selling the Jet that they never needed to order and help save a little girls life . Sometimes our countries common sense decisions make me shake my head and wonder W T F are they thinking . Do the right thing and help this family out
This is another Canadian government disgrace. They spend millions on illegal drug users for drugs, needles, places to do it and staff to monitor it. They spend millions on immigrants for medical and other things. She was born with this disease not one that was inflicted on her like the drug users. That’s why the country and its medical system sucks.
It is too bad most of the comments are trying to politicize this for one side or another. The province should obviously step up, if they don’t then crowd fund it, I would donate for sure, lets help this family, just let me know where I can donate. Make your political comments somewhere else.
As health care is federal the community who decides should be from all across Canada not just Alberta.The system here us run by a one man band so I imagine the committee is not independent.
They should sue the government for racial discrimination after all of the money we piss away to other countries and immigrants.
Free health care to anyone invading from another country! Extremely expensive cancer/heart treatments/surgeries…as long as you have been here a minute sure! But an actual born Canadian is denied lifesaving treatment. Typical government.
Tragic! It is unfortunate that some alternative is not mentioned including a go fund me account.
This government of Alberta has got to change! Smith likes kicking puppies way too much! First the aish program, then seniors, now this? Where does it end?
You can’t expect the Alberta government to spend taxpayers’ money on anything that actually benefits taxpayers (unless they’re named Mraiche). That would deplete their PR budget.
It was a proper decision. Obviously.