KELLY & SOFIA NICARAGUA

In 2012, 10-year-old Kelly was brought to the United States to have her congenital heart defect repaired. At three-months-old, she was diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot, a deadly combination of four heart defects causing poorly oxygenated blood to flow throughout her body. She was unable to receive care to correct the rare heart condition due to the lack of access to specialized medical care in her country.

For a decade, Kelly’s mother searched for help while young Kelly struggled to breathe, endured chronic illness and failed to thrive. She was referred to HeartGift, and was accepted by the medical team to have her heart repaired in Austin through HeartGift’s partnership with Dell Children’s Medical Center. Kelly was very ill when she arrived, unable to walk more than a few steps at a time, and with lips and fingernails turning blue due to her heart defect and improper flow of oxygen throughout her body. After just one surgery, Kelly’s heart defect was repaired completely, and she was finally able to live a healthy, normal childhood running, playing, and going to school.

Kelly eventually became a mother. Her second child, a daughter named Sofia, was born in November 2021. Shortly after birth, the baby was diagnosed with the same congenital heart defect that Kelly dealt with ten years earlier. After review by HeartGift’s medical team, Sofia was also accepted to have her heart repaired. Mom and baby arrived in Austin in October 2022 where HeartGift welcomed the next generation of this family. The second time around, the pair stayed with the same host family and worked with the same medical team at Dell Children’s Medical Center for the same corrective life-saving heart surgery. Today, both are thriving!