“I embrace my scar because it’s a part of who I am. It’s a reminder of everything I have been through. I was a walking miracle.”
‘My mom had a normal pregnancy with me, nothing was out of the ordinary. After I was born, my pediatrician noticed something wasn’t right. I was blue in color and had low blood oxygen.’
‘No, not my child… wait, wait, wait. WHY US, WHY NOW?’: 2 families, 9 children, 3 congenital heart defects
“She didn’t have any symptoms. She didn’t have any signs screaming there was an issue. I thought we knew about these defects. I thought we were safe with all my children checked off with perfect health.”
‘We got the horrifying call in the middle of the night: ‘She’s bleeding from her mouth and we don’t know where it’s coming from and can’t stop it.’: Mom shares grief journey after losing twin to rare heart defect, DiGeorge Syndrome
“She’d been taken in for emergency surgery. The bleeding seemed to have slowed, but they still hadn’t found the source. ‘She’s losing too much blood and I don’t think she’s going to make it.’ But she wasn’t gone…there was still hope. The next time the doctor came in, all hope was lost.”
‘He stopped breathing. His body went limp in my arms’: Mom of son with Down syndrome declares ‘CPR should be MANDATORY for parents to learn’
“He started to turn blue. I remember his big eyes staring up at me – they were like an endless pit of blackness. He was scared, and I couldn’t do anything to help.”
‘Scars equal strength’: Mom empowers toddler daughter to embrace her ‘BRAVE SCAR’ after open heart surgery
“Then it hit me, maybe my scar and struggle was simply to give me the tools to help guide my daughter through the same trials and difficulties. She is beautiful, with and without the scars.”
‘She shows me the beauty of the world. Through heart failure, low glucose, Down syndrome and near death, she smiles!’
“I never pictured myself in such a place with any of my children that I may no longer have them.”
‘She was stunning. She was angelic. How could she look so perfect, and be so sick?’
“The exact second I stepped into my daughter’s hospital room was the very second the surgeon threw his hands in the air and said, ‘That’s it. There is nothing else we can do.’”
Gut-wrenching photos of toddler who died waiting for heart transplant hit home for photographer
“This. This is the reality for many CHD families every day.”
‘We talked about meeting all year. So many feelings were running through me. In a perfect world, they could have both been saved, but that isn’t our story.’
“It was different with them — almost as if he’s known them for ages. We would give anything to have our baby back.”
