Kelsey’s Story

Trigger Warning:

This entry deals with Child Loss.

“Over 30 years ago, when I was 7 months pregnant, we were told that, “There is something seriously wrong with your baby,” as I wasn’t gaining much weight. They didn’t know what was wrong though, and when she was born, they checked her out and said that she was fine, but she wasn’t. 

Kelsey’s transposition of the great arteries and other heart defects were not found before birth or even at birth. They were discovered when she was 6 weeks old. 

We were told she should have had the open heart surgery within the first week of life for the best chance of survival. Instead they had to wait until her body was failing and there was no other choice. She passed away after the surgery when she was 8 months old. 

Two years later when I was pregnant with my son, they sent me for a specialized ultrasound to check for heart defects, but it was late in my pregnancy and not at 20 weeks. That meant there was still the opportunity to have had Kelsey checked out more thoroughly during my pregnancy. 

Even though it was a long time ago we still miss our little girl. 

We are just so thankful for all that Tiny HeartsCan is doing to prevent this outcome for other families and we applaud you all for all the hard work that you do!” 

Written by Gale, Kelsey’s mom.

Gale and her husband participated in the Acorn Keychain Project, continuing to advocate for the early detection of Congenital Heart Defects to help kids like Kelsey get the life-saving diagnosis they need before they are born.