Family Prays As 2nd Baby Needs New Heart: 'One Day At A Time'

WADING RIVER, NY — As a Wading River family marks the second anniversary of the day their first baby, Ruby June, received a heart transplant for Christmas, they continue to wait for a second miracle — their second child, Everett, also needs a new heart.

Everett, who is called Buddy by his family, will turn a year old on Thursday.

Brian Cotter provided an update to a concerned community on Sunday. He explained that the past week has been long. "Buddy is still battling the aftermath of surgery, sedation and the absolute change of environment," he said. "There has been a lot of confusion, sleepless nights and discomfort. Troubleshooting an almost a year old who has been through hell takes an entire team. We keep telling ourselves 'one day at a time.'"

And yet, there have been moments of grace.

"Today I got to hold my sweet little boy for a little while and for a moment he showed me that he’s still in there. He reached up with his pointer finger and pushed on my nose. When I said 'beep,' he smiled. He calmly looked deep into my eyes and we understood each other. One day at a time."

On December 22, Brian and his wife Ashley marked the second anniversary of the day their first child, Ruby, received her new heart.

"Two years ago today Ruby received her second chance at life. Today we celebrate Ruby and her beautiful donor. Ruby is living for two and we never forget that. She is the strongest and sweetest girl I know," Brian wrote on Facebook. "Here’s to two years and many, many more."

On Sunday, Brian told Patch that Ruby had enjoyed a "great 'heart day' and a great Christmas."

When the community learned about Everett needing a new heart, they opened their hearts to help the Cotter family have a Christmas filled with love and plenty of gifts from Santa.

Recently, the Cotters decided on a new ventricular assist device, or VAD, than the type used with Ruby, to help their son. A VAD is an implantable mechanical pump used to help those with heart failure or other issues.

"We have made decision to use a VAD called Jarvik instead of the Berlin heart," Cotter said. "It is currently in clinical trials and has only been tested in seven pediatric patients so far. It is however, very commonly used in adults and the stroke rate is significantly less compared to theBerlin in adults who have used this device."

The decision did not come lightly, Cotter said: "This is scary and uncharted territory for us since Ruby had so much success with the Berlin. But given the potential that it has to provide Buddy with a better quality of life, along with the fact of taking into consideration of our experience with the Berlin heart and that we could be contributing to significant advancements in the field on bridging patients to transplant, we felt this was the best choice for our family."

To prep for the device implant, Buddy had a CT scan of his brain and then went to the catheter lab, where a balloon was inserted to open the hole between the left and right side of his heart and help the blood drain properly.

Last week, Buddy was extubated but has had some trouble sleeping and at first, struggled with confusion as he tried to make sense of his new surroundings, Brian said.

The Cotters were devastated by the news that their second child was facing the same medical challenges that Ruby had encountered.

Cotter shared the heartbreaking news on Facebook: "Earlier today after a visit to the Stony Brook emergency room, Ruby's little brother Everett (Buddy) was admitted to Columbia's cardiac pediatric intensive care unit. One room over from where Ruby lived when she was sick," he said.

"Never in a million years did we think our happy, healthy boy would be where his sister was almost two years ago. He has an enlarged heart — cardiomyopathy," just as Ruby had, he said.

And just as they did two years ago, in the face of the unthinkable, a caring community came together in an outpouring of love to buoy the Cotter family through days of uncertainty.

"Thank you to everyone who has continued to reach out during this difficult time. Even the smallest gesture has gone such a long way for us. We love you all," Brian wrote.