OUR STORIES

Ethan’s Story

Born: October 2004
Heart Condition: Transposition of the Greater Arteries
Parents: Jeff & Polly Rames
Friday the 13th... We all laugh about it, or blame any small problem on it. For us, it became the worst day of our lives... Read more

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Molly’s Story

Born: February 2008
Heart Condition: Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) with smaller Atrial Septal Defects (ASD)
Parents: Dave & Jeannie Johnson
When Molly was born, there was nothing to immediately indicate she had a serious heart problem. Her ultrasounds hadn’t shown anything, and her birth weight was great—8 lbs 11 oz.  Read more

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Paul’s Story

Born: February 2004
Heart Condition: Complex Congenital Heart Disease
Parents: Randy & Deb Antonsen
As we awaited the birth of our third child, my husband and I had no idea what lay ahead. We had no clue during the pregnancy that Paul would be born with serious heart problems. Read more

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Tommy’s Story

Born: April 2006
Heart Condition: Shone’s Syndrome with multiple left heart obstruction
Parents: Dean & Jessica Schmeichel
It was in the wee hours of the morning a week after his birth when we learned Tommy had heart problems. We almost lost him on the ambulance ride to the emergency room, and by the time we arrived to Avera McKennan, he was in a Code Blue. Read more

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Gabe’s Story

Born: September 2006
Heart Condition: Transposition of the Greater Arteries
Parents: Troy & Sherry Long
Unlike other parents who discovered their child’s heart condition after they were born, we had time to prepare before Gabe’s birth. We went in for our standard first ultrasound kind of excited because my husband wanted to find out what we were going to have. Read more