Noah: The Heart Hero
Meet Noah: The Heart Hero, and winner this weeks Cutest Baby photo contest!
When doctors realized that Noah was experiencing cardiac distress in response to the contractions during labor, they decided the only way to ensure his survival was to perform an emergency c-section on his mother, Kimberli. Just before midnight on January 31st, 2015, Noah came in to the world.
But then, while Kimberli and her husband Caleb were getting ready to take Noah home, tragedy struck. Kimberly and Caleb, were informed that Noah would be rushed to Phoenix Children’s Hospital in a helicopter for emergency open-heart surgery. “Our world seemed over. Our hearts were broken right along with Noah’s.“ Kimberli said.
3-hours later, Noah’s family arrived in Pheonix where Noah was diagnosed with the heart condition Truncus Arteriosis. With this condition, instead of having a separate pulmonary artery and aorta, each with its own three- leafed valves, the baby has only one great blood vessel. (Cincinnati Childrens Medical Center.) “All of the information was way too much to handle but we were quickly surrounded by family who had dropped everything to come be with us.” Kimberli said. Noah’s surgery was scheduled for February 23rd.
When surgery day came, over twenty family members who traveled from near and far were there to support him, all wearing their “Pray for Noah” shirts, with Noah’s little face on the front. Not only that, but thousands of people were rooting and praying for Noah from all over the world.
After 5 hours in surgery, Noah’s family was notified that he had been taken back to recovery. Kimberli and Caleb braced themselves for what they were about to see next.
“Noah was so swollen. He had tubes draining the excess blood from his body, an IV in every limb, an IV in his chest, every monitor you could imagine and rows upon rows of medicine. The large hospital room and his tiny body were completely taken up with medical equipment. But he was still our sweet boy. Our perfect boy. His heart, then only the size of a strawberry, was fixed.”
Four days after his surgery, Kimberli was finally able to hold Noah. As the days went on, more and more machines were wheeled out of his room, revealing more and more of Noah as they were detached from his body. “He astounded the doctors and surpassed every expectation for his recovery.” Kimberli said.
On March 7th, Kimberli and Caleb were finally able to take Noah home. “We now have a 6 month old and our daily worries consist of teething, poopy diapers, and not being able to go out into public without running into some of the MANY people that love Noah so much.”
Noah will need more operations for his heart condition as he gets older, but Kimberli says that she will always be right by his side every step of the way. “Our goal and our promise to him is to always help him to be proud of how far he has come and to wear his scars with his head high.” Kimberli said.
See a slideshow of Noah’s struggle above.