When Avianna's mom was 5 months pregnant, they discovered during an ultrasound that Avianna had a heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This is when the left side of the heart doesn’t develop properly. She was a severe case and her mom was given two options, terminate the pregnancy or continue on knowing that Avianna would need heart surgery as a newborn to survive.

As a family, we prayed on it and did research and decided to continue with the pregnancy. She was monitored closely and had multiple ultrasounds. At 7 months in the womb, we found out that the standard procedure for HLHS wouldn’t be an option and Avianna would need to have a heart transplant.

Avianna was born on October 8^th, 2018 and immediately Avianna was taken by life flight to our Children’s Hospital and placed at the highest priority for an infant heart on the transplant list and Avianna's mom stayed in the hospital to recover from delivery.

The odds of getting an infant heart are rare, almost never gotten in the amount of time that you need it. Avianna was connected to so many machines and tubes to maintain life while we waited for a miracle. And 2 days later it came. There was an auto accident 6 hours away thru a tragedy, we got a miracle phone call.

On October 11^th, 2018 Avianna had heart transplant surgery, And when she was 2 months old, she got to come home from the hospital. We knew at the time of her transplant that she would eventually need a procedure to remove scar tissue as her body grew. They thought it would be around age 9-10. And watched Avianna’s heart with echocardiograms every year on her birthday.

Unfortunately, we aren’t going to be able to wait until age 9 – 10 before her next surgery. Her aorta is being over taken by scar tissue. On December 17^th, she had her aorta removed and replaced with a donor aorta. She also had two cusps repaired in the left ventricle. She is currently recovering beautifully.

2025 Heart Warrior Avianna