March of Dimes Do-It-Yourself Fundraising

Tell us about him/her. Kevin Patrick Cullen was born to John & Kelly Cullen in June 1994. He is the fifth of six Cullen children. His brother and sisters are Sean, Mary Kate, Kerry, Erin, and Meghan. He was born with a severe congenital heart defect called Transposition of the Great Arteries. Basically, the big vessels coming off his heart developed incorrectly, and it left him with the inability to pump oxygenated blood to the rest of his body. Because his heart defect was not known before he was born, he was urgently transferred from a small community hospital in New York to the NICU at Columbia in NYC. He was thankfully stabilized, and able to come home to us. He was scheduled to have a number of operations on his heart once he was older and bigger. Unfortunately, at 9 months old, he died due to complications from an infection by a virus called RSV. Infections with RSV are extremely common among children, but can be extremely dangerous for medically complex young children like Kevin. He was the sweetest, happiest child you can imagine, and had an infectious laugh and adorable smile. His family misses his dearly. We know that he is at peace, but we still miss and love him terribly.