Imagine a world without heart disease or stroke. Many say this is unattainable, considering heart disease kills more Americans than the next four leading causes of death combined. But this vision — for a world free of heart disease and stroke — drives the lifesaving mission of the American Heart Association. Open Your Heart gives donors the opportunity to make a direct impact on the AHA’s mission by making a personal gift.
Your generosity enables the American Heart Association to fund groundbreaking research, develop guidelines to improve patient care and help people lower their risk factors for heart disease and stroke. As long as heart disease continues to be the nation’s No. 1 cause of death, the importance of our work will only grow. Please consider making a gift to Open Your Heart.
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Please read below to hear more about this year's Survivor Story.
Ellen Bourne, along with her twin sister, were born early, just 34 weeks into their mother Mary's pregnancy. Ellen was 3 lbs, 14 oz. and initially seemed fine. The next morning, doctors discovered Ellen had a heart murmur. An echocardiogram revealed Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, a major heart defect in which Ellen's left ventricle was underdeveloped. Oxygenated blood meant for the left ventricle flowed through a hole into her right ventricle and mixed with deoxygenated blood. While treatable with a series of operations, there is no way to correct the condition. Ellen had her first heart surgery at just six months old, and though there were some initial complications, she recovered nicely and eventually grew to the same size as her twin sister, Megan.
Ellen's second surgery came when was 3.5 years old. Once again there were complications during recovery and Ellen developed a condition called Protein Losing Enteropathy (PLE).
Now 14 years old, Ellen is doing much better. A heart transplant may still be in Ellen's future, but her family is very thankful for every day they've been able to spend with Ellen.
