Little Hearts Hold Big Hope

Did you know that one in every 110 babies are born with Congenital Heart Defects? I did not...Not until July 26, 2013, when I was thrown into a world I had never experienced before. My ‘healthy’ 10 day old son went into Heart Failure and my life would never be the same. My baby was the 1 in 110. My name is Heidi Kassner from Easton, MA and this is my story.

In the summer of 2013 my beautiful healthy baby boy was born. And then our world changed when he was 10 days old. My son stopped eating, was very lethargic, his feet turned blue and we became very concerned. We brought him back to the hospital where he was born, and he was quickly diagnosed with being in Heart Failure. Thankfully we were at the hospital when this happened and he stopped breathing. Within the next several hours we learned that he had multiple Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) that would require Open Heart surgery and that he would be on heart lung bypass when he was 13 days old.

Fast forward to later that year. I realized I needed support from other families who went through similar experiences. I found a national organization called Mended Little Hearts, but there was no local chapter in the Boston area, yet we have the number one Cardiology center within arms reach! I teamed up with another heart mom, Laura Dillon (of Watertown) and together we formed our local chapter - Mended Little Hearts of Boston.

I bring this to your attention now because February 7-14 is Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week. Congenital Heart Defects are the number one birth defect in the United States. As mentioned above, 1 in every 110 babies are born with a congenital heart defect. CHD’s are the most common cause of infant death due to birth defects. Last year I received a Proclamation from the Governor declaring February 7-14, 2014 as Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week and I am awaiting the same Proclamation to be received from our new Governor at any time!

I am hoping that we can get the word out there about the prevalence of CHDs and the support of Mended Little Hearts of Boston. So far we have created Bravery Bags to bring to children after their surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital per parent request and have provided many hours of support on the phone and via the internet to families, as well as many hours of support visits with families at their children’s bedside. There is a Bravery Bag Drive occurring now through the next few weeks to collect additional supplies for these bags. We are also very excited about a large fundraising event at Dillons Restaurant in Boston on April 12th that we are planning, and we are hoping to reach as many families affected by CHD as possible, so that they do not feel as alone and terrified as I did in July 2013.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you will join me in creating as much awareness as possible for CHDs as we enter this years Congenital Heart Defect Awareness week. For more information on Mended Little Hearts of Boston or how you can participate in any activities please contact Heidi Kassner at Heidi.kassner@gmail.com.