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Our Kids - Meet David

David was born in 2004 with Down Syndrome. His family knew this little tyke would have struggles, but weren’t expecting him to face a heart condition as well.

David

David, Congenital heart defects

A week after birth, David underwent an echocardiogram (ECG) where doctors heard a heart murmur and discovered three congenital heart defects: ventricular septal defect, a hole in the lower chambers of the heart; atrial septal defect, a hole in the upper chambers of the heart; and patent ductus arteriosus, a connection between the blood vessels to the body and the lungs that causes excess blood to flow through the lungs.

On October 7, 2005, David became the 21st person at The Hospital for Sick Children to undergo a procedure that put a device in the ventricular septal defect. Just two weeks after the surgery, David went into a very slow heart rhythm called complete heart block. Unable to be airlifted to SickKids because of severe weather, David had to brave an ambulance ride from Cambridge. His family almost lost him that night. He immediately underwent emergency surgery and, on two occasions, almost didn’t make it. Doctors performed open-heart surgery on David, taking out the device, repairing the holes and putting in a permanent pacemaker.

We came close to losing the most valuable thing in our family and SickKids gave him back to us. David is our little miracle baby.
- Emma, parent

Today David’s heart is strong. He still goes
into the pacemaker clinic but his appointments
aren’t as frequent. His quality of life has greatly improved thanks to the dedication and care of the SickKids staff.

Before the operation, the strain on his heart made it difficult for David to do things, now he is energetic and full of life – a changed child because of the advances SickKids has made in treating children with cardiac conditions.

Like David, more than half the children requiring cardiac surgery are under one year of age. SickKids is the only centre in Ontario that is able to provide life-saving cardiac care for newborns with many forms of severe heart defects.

HOW CAN YOU HELP? Thousands of children like David need your support.