If surgery were gymnastics, a triple-organ transplant would be a feat worthy of the Olympics. It has everything: Complex and intricate procedure? Check. Frequency of pre-existing conditions that can increase risk? Check. Prerequisites of flawless technique and seamless intraoperative collaboration? Check and check. Rarely performed? Also check.
In July 2019, UF Health staff wheeled Maurice (Moe) Ricks into surgery to prep him to receive a new heart and kidney, which were in transport on a plane to Gainesville, Florida. Fate would intervene as the transport team comes face-to-face with a potential life-or-death situation. In an unlikely twist,…
Anthony Macchio was already familiar with UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital. After his second daughter, Isabel, was born with a heart defect in February 2019, he and his wife, Amy Hecht Macchio, became accustomed to traveling to Gainesville from Tallahassee for expert pediatric cardiology care. But three months after Isabel…
Cole Dooley, M.D., is no stranger to pediatric cancer. As both a pediatric anesthesiologist and the father of a child with incurable cancer, the realities of childhood cancer have forever changed his life.
How 9-year-old Kendall Lewis navigates life with VACTERL association.
Heather Lowery’s parents were told that she would likely not live to be 3 months old. At 36, Heather has proved them wrong and has set an example for adults living with congenital heart disease.
One glance at Madison Rhodes, 14, and no one would ever imagine the struggles she has endured…
Congenital heart defects, better known as abnormalities of the heart, remain the most prevalent type of birth defect, affecting one in every 133 people…
After a devastating hurricane season in 2018, Michelle Byron and her family were looking forward to being back in their home in Panama City just in time for Thanksgiving. While shopping for last-minute preparations at Target, Michelle received an unexpected call from her husband, Chuck…
Althea “Thea” Brown is all smiles. And her spunky personality along with her curiosity for the world around her will undoubtedly bring a grin to your face…
