The Miller family of Bowling Green, Kentucky, has a reason to celebrate Heart Month every day. Their daughter, Abigail, recently celebrated her first birthday — her “heartiversary” — with family and friends. A year ago, her parents, Amanda and Tim, learned Abigail needed lifesaving surgery to fix defects in her heart — ventricular septal defect…
Logan Carroll is a young man on the move. A junior at Western Kentucky University, Carroll spent last summer biking 3,600 miles across the United States to raise money for Alzheimer’s research with his fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta. He also enjoys distance running, camping, hiking and, of course, hanging out with friends. Carroll sounds like…
Fainting, or passing out, is a brief or sudden loss of consciousness. It can happen quickly and resolve quickly. Many older children and teenagers faint during childhood. While fainting in children may not be serious, it might be a sign that your child should see a heart doctor (cardiologist). Know what to look for so you can get the help your child…
In 1986, Robbie Cardin became Norton Children’s and Kentucky’s first pediatric heart transplant patient. As you can imagine, his plight was covered by the media. Robbie was referred to as “Baby Calvin” to protect his family’s privacy. Robbie was born by cesarean section at Hardin Memorial Hospital in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Doctors knew right away something…
Vibrant and bouncing, Wells Whitaker is a ball of energy. The 2-year-old bundle of long golden curls and bright laughter seems to have an endless supply of energy. His parents, Leslee and Matt, remember just months before, Wells was a very different toddler. “He has two older siblings,” Matt said. “He would try to keep…
Dynamic and vivacious, 11-year-old twin sisters Lauren and Madison are every bit as charming as they are spirited. However, while the girls are matched in character, they differ in physical development. Older by 30 minutes, Lauren is noticeably taller than Madison, who was born with a congenital heart defect. Halfway through her pregnancy, their mother,…
This story was originally published on April 2, 2015 and has been updated. It had been in high school, over 10 years ago, when I had last seen Angela Roberts. It wasn’t under the greatest circumstances that we reconnected, but she was still the same as I had remembered — a smile from ear to…
A $5 million gift from the Lift a Life Foundation to the Children’s Hospital Foundation will establish the Wendy Novak Diabetes Center at Norton Children’s Hospital. Established in 1999 through a charitable trust by David and Wendy Novak, the Lift a Life Foundation provides innovative grants to nonprofit partners serving Kentucky. The gift is part…