A young, bright-blonde boy of ten years is taking on fourth grade with great success. From the outside, you see a rough-and-tumble kid who rides his bike, wrestles with his sisters and plays soccer with his friends.  So it’s hard to believe that this same boy was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect at the tender age of two days and may eventually have to have another heart surgery to address a still existing heart condition. The young, playful boy is Jake Price, a local Flower Mound boy.  In celebration of Jake, “Friends 4 Heart,” a non-profit charity organization, was established. The goal of “Friends 4 Heart” is to raise funds to benefit the research, treatment and support of children with congenital heart defects.  The desire is to help change children’s lives.

     On Friday, November 6, “Friends 4 Heart” held its second annual Charity Golf Tournament and auction/dinner presented by Orthopedic Associates of Flower Mound/Lewisville and Medical City Children’s Hospital (MCCH) at the Bridlewood Golf Course in Flower Mound. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Congenital Heart Program at MCCH.  Approximately 1 million Americans have a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD), which generally begins before birth. According to the American Heart Association, about 40,000 infants (1 out of 125) are born with heart defects each year in the United States, with at least one-half million children having some form of cardiac problem. There are 35 known congenital heart defects.

     In Jake’s case, immediately after birth the doctors heard a heart murmur and diagnosed him with having a congenital heart defect, which consisted of coarctation of the aorta; a pinch or narrowing of the aorta (the large blood vessel that branches off the heart and delivers oxygen-rich blood to the body), and stenosis of two major heart valves; the narrowing of heart valves which obstruct blood flow from the heart.  Since coarctation of the aorta causes the heart to pump harder in order to force blood through the narrow part of the aorta, the petite newborn underwent a four hour surgery.
With the help of all of the doctors, nurses and medical staff at Medical City Hospital, Jake is a valuable player in the many sports he enjoys so much. Jake goes in for regularly scheduled six-month check-ups and for the most part everything has checked out great! But he isn’t completely out of the woods for it is known that eventually Jake may need to have another heart surgery.  For right now, all is good and that is a tremendous blessing.  

   For more information about “Friends 4 Heart,” its Charity Golf Tournament or donations, please visit: www.Friends4Heart.org.  

The generous sponsors for this charitable event include: Medical City Children’s Hospital - Orthopedic Associates of Flower Mound/Lewisville - MATRIX - Wade Hunt/Nationwide - Allen Samuels Auto Group - Jeff Brand & Associates/RE/MAX Signature Properties - Pega - Strange, Downing & Coats, PC

- Special to The News Connection