Liam & Aidan Collins – Two Brothers, All Heart –
Over the past several years I have ridden the Courage Classic in honor of our eldest son, Liam, to raise funds for the Children’s Hospital Colorado Heart Institute.
It’s now been over 10 years since his life saving intervention as a day-old newborn, followed by open-heart surgery at 7-weeks old to remove obstructive muscle tissue in his right ventricle that was causing his heart to work too hard, to only produce too little oxygen for his body.
Thanks to the amazing and caring doctors, nurses, therapists, and other specialists at the CHC Heart Institute, Liam is now a thriving 10.5-year-old – A sweet, curious, kind, creative boy, with a deep passion for family, close friends, art and creative writing.
He is also the world’s best big brother to Aidan, our second son, and our lesser-known heart warrior.
Soon to be 6 years-old, Aidan was born with two completely different heart defects than his brother - Bicuspid Aortic Valve (BAV), and severe Coarctation of the Aorta (COA), a congenital deformation that causes the aorta to narrow, restricting blood flow to the body.
Aidan miraculously “healed his own heart”, in a very rare instance of a self-correcting coarctation, so unlike his big brother, he was thankfully able to avoid open-heart surgery.
It was the patience and guidance of their cardiologist that allowed him a little extra time as an infant to see how his heart deformation would progress before scheduling his surgery.
Aidan, or “Tooky”, as we call him in our family is a true force of nature, with tremendous gusto, big feelings, a great sense of humor, and a love of telling stories and jokes. He will tell you, and we believe him, that he healed his own heart with his tremendous “Tooky-Power”.
Since he did not require open-heart surgery, not so many people know about Aidan as a heart-warrior, and this year we asked his permission to tell his story in the same way we tell his brother’s. He agreed to that, and to both me and his brother Liam riding for him at this year’s CHC Courage Classic.
We feel blessed that our two sons are now healthy & thriving, and deeply thankful to have access to the amazingly competent and caring team at The Heart Institute at Children’s Hospital - An organization that will forever be a part of our sons’ lives, and one that we plan to support in their mission of helping heart kids like Liam & Aidan, and their parents, find their way to healthier, happier lives.
