Faces Of Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) - Landon Jace & William

February 7-14th is recognized as CHD Awareness Week and this year I wanted to celebrate that week by showing you the faces and stories of some incredible heart warriors that we have had the opportunity to get to know along the way.  A congenital heart defect is a problem with the heart's structure that is present at birth.  Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defect and occur in a little over 1 in 100 babies.  1 out of every 4 babies born with a heart defect will have a critical CHD which will require surgery within the first few days after birth in order to survive.

Facts are so important, but they only tell part of the story.  The most important part of the story is the families impacted by CHDs; they are the stories of the children, grandchildren, friends, coworkers that were born with a congenital heart defect.  They are the stories of the children and adults fighting huge battles to survive.  They are also the stories of the children taken from this world too soon due to a CHD.  These are their stories.

 Over the next several days as I feature different children impacted by a congenital heart defect, I hope that you will see the importance of raising awareness and funds to fight against this birth defect and the reason that CHD awareness is a cause close to the hearts of so many.

Heart Hero LANDON JACE

This is our hero Landon Jace! He is 23 months old and was born with a CHD called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. We were unaware of Landon's heart defect until the day after he was born, when he was transferred because of cyanosis to a nearby hospital with a NICU. He was then given an Echo and diagnosed. Within hours he was life flighted to UMMC Blair E. Batson. He had his first of 3 surgeries (the Norwood) on March 7 at 9 days old. He had a few set backs but was finally able to come home at 21 days old. He had a few more hospital stays for various things and on June 16th he had his pre Glenn Cath. And the day before he was suppose to be admitted into the hospital for his second open heart surgery (the Glenn) we got a call from his cardiologist telling us that he was going to need a second heart Cath because his Innominate artery was severely narrowed. The bodies way of dealing with this was to grow a bunch of little veins around the artery to help pass the blood. But now the blood is going both ways through the veins instead of only traveling one way like it would through the artery. So he went in and had the second heart Cath to correct the artery. And on August 7th at 5 months he had the 2nd open heart surgery (the Glenn). He rocked this surgery and was out of the hospital in 4 days. Landon will go in next month in February for his pre Fontan cath and if all goes well should have his 3rd open heart surgery also next month right before his 2nd birthday. Landon is our HERO!!! He amazes us every day with his resilience and how he keeps his happy, loving, and energetic personality. 

Heart Hero WILLIAM

William Franklin Stroud was born with Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome and Transposition of the Great Arteries along with several other congenital heart defects. Even though his parents, Heather and Justin, knew about William’s heart before he was born, they had no idea how much of a fighter William would turn out to be.



At six days old, William underwent his first of three open-heart surgeries. He also underwent two surgeries, two heart catheterizations, pacemaker surgery and countless bedside procedures in order for him to have a chance at life. Through all of the surgeries and emergencies, William always showed the world that he was still fighting with his smiles.



Despite the amazing efforts of the staff at the Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center at Children’s Hospital of Alabama, William was never able to leave the hospital, living only to be four and a half months old. William passed on January 15, 2014.