Our daughter, Annalina, was born with tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart condition that affects about 5% of all children born with heart defects in the United States. She had two surgeries by the time she was 10 months old. Even with the many ups and downs of this journey, we never gave up hope that she would be well and do remarkable things in her life. We believe children born with heart conditions are very special. They are meant to do great things in life and teach us all about persevering. Today Annalina is a healthy junior in college at Oregon State University. She loves to dance, downhill ski and cook. Her heart defect did not make her weaker. . .it made her stronger. She has amazing perseverance when tested with adversity. She is a resilient girl who continues to help those in need and never gives up whenever faced with a challenge. We are excited to see how Annalina is going to change the world in her journey ahead!
You can hear more about Annalina’s story on the Children’s Heart Fund video.