Heart Walks a chance to celebrate for Barrington children saved by medical advances
Madeleine Haas of Barrington loves to run and play at the park, and her parents hope to enroll her in swim lessons soon. At first glance, she appears to be a typical 2-year-old toddler.
However, a closer look might reveal a zip line scar from her neck down her torso from her open heart surgery when she was six months old to repair three holes in her heart.
The congenital heart defect caused her heart to work extra hard to push oxygenated blood to the rest of her body.
"It's something that wouldn't have been caught 10 or 20 years ago," her father, Daniel, said, "but it would have caused her problems later in life and even resulted in a heart transplant."
In gratitude for their daughter's good health, Daniel and his wife, Renee, will be pushing Madeleine in her stroller in the American Heart Association's Heart Walk on Saturday, Oct. 3, in Lake Forest.
The Metro Chicago chapter is hosting four Heart Walks in all, starting with one at noon Friday, Sept. 25, along Chicago's lakefront. Another takes place Saturday, Sept. 26, in Oakbrook and one takes place Sunday, Sept. 27, in Palos Hills.
Seven-year old Freddie Siemens of North Barrington will be recognized at the Oakbrook walk. He was born with a rare condition known as transposition of the great arteries and at five days old, he underwent an arterial switch to reverse their positions.
"Even 20 years ago, this procedure wasn't available," says his mother, Erin. "It was discovered by a nurse, who noticed his oxygen levels were low."
The infant was flown by helicopter to the University of Michigan, but en route, he went into cardiac arrest. Doctors eventually were able to reverse his arteries and restore oxygenated blood to his body.
"He still has to be monitored every year, but he doesn't have any limitations," Erin Siemens adds, pointing to his love of soccer and baseball. "We're just so grateful and fortunate for all the advances made that have enabled him to lead a normal life."
According to Jayme Pierson, vice president of corporate development for the Chicago Metro chapter, the combined heart walks are the agency's biggest fundraiser.
This year, the organization expects to draw 25,000 participants to the walks, including employees of 180 participating companies. So far, $2.1 million has been pledged toward the $3.6 million goal. More information on the walk and pledging is at http://heartwalk.kintera.org/faf/home.
Much of that funding is spent on research into cardio vascular disease and stroke prevention, but another major portion is for research into preventing congenital heart defects, Pierson says.
According to the American Heart Association, congenital heart defects are the most common cause of infant death from birth defects.
Other than the federal government, the American Heart Association is the largest funding agent for research into cardio vascular disease, stroke and congenital heart defects, Pierson says. "This year, we will fund $18 million in research at Illinois hospitals and research centers, alone."