I am riding in the Courage Classic in support of kids like Mackenzie.
"Mackenzie was born at 36 weeks’ gestation with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, aortic atresia, and pulmonary artery stenosis. She had her first open heart surgery, the Norwood-Sano procedure, at 4 days old, at the Heart Institute of Children's Hospital Colorado. She had vocal cord paresis as a result of her surgery and could not nurse or take a bottle, so surgeons placed a g-tube in her stomach for feeding. She had multiple bouts of feeding intolerance and necrotizing enterocolitis because of the lack of blood flow to her intestines. By three months old, she had only been home a total of 20 days, and had 5 hospital readmissions. The doctors at Children’s ultimately decided to perform her next open heart surgery early, at 3 and a half months old.
She recovered much faster than the doctors expected and was able to go home two weeks after
her surgery. At some point, she suffered a stroke, which caused the motor development in her
left arm to be delayed. She receives physical, occupational and speech therapy, and is making great progress. She has been weaned off all medications except one, and no longer needs supplemental oxygen. Mackenzie had her Fontana procedure June of 2023. After this, she will have a lifetime of follow up appointments and monitoring. Many children like her end up needing liver or even heart transplants. For all that she has been through, Mackenzie is the happiest little girl, always giving everyone big smiles and lighting up the room with her personality. She is thriving at school and starts kindergarten in the fall."
All the money raised will go to helping kids like Makenzie get the best care possible. This fundraiser allows these kids to go home. It goes towards education, research, and the amazing staff who take care of them.
