Sierra's Story

Sierra was born with a congenital heart defect, Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA), and Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD). She bravely battled two open heart surgeries before the age of one. Over the next few years Sierra led a happy, fun filled life, doing everything all children her age love to do. 

Then on April 14, 2011 as she glided gracefully up and down the lacrosse field, her life changed forever. Without warning, Sierra had gone into cardiac arrest and had collapsed on the field. If not for a couple of off duty nurses who performed CPR, her life could have been cut tragically short. Sierra was rushed to the hospital, and over the next few weeks she was consumed by tests and studies to find out what was wrong. Doctors at AI DuPont Hospital determined that she had a compressed left main coronary artery, and a pulmonary valve insufficiency. 

 

After recovering from
the cardiac arrest and regaining her strength, Sierra bravely faced open heart surgery for the third time in her young life. Doctors made the necessary repairs and later placed a defibrillator in her stomach. Again, she made miraculous recovery. On February of 2013 Sierra, returned to AI to have her second defibrillator replaced due to growth. This time Dr. Placed defibrillator in her chest. 

On October 30th her defibrillator failed and shocked her multiple times. Her parents watched helpless while she was repeatedly shocked. She was taken to the hospital and her device was disabled. Sierra's surgery is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday. Dr.s are going to remove the defibrillator,extract the leads and replace. This has been a very difficult and painful journey for her and her family. 

We are grateful for the support of our family, friends and community during this time. Please follow Sierra's page on Facebook at Follow her story at https://www.facebook.com/sierra91101

Hashtags are #TeamSierra, #SupportforSierra and #TeamLittleButBrave