Our son Eric was born on June 26, 2015. We purposely didn’t find out his gender because we wanted to be surprised. We already had two girls, so we wanted a boy and God gave us our wish. Eric completed our family.

On October 1, 2015, he suddenly became ill and we took him to our local emergency room. He had been fussy throughout the night and when his lips looked blue in color and his breathing seemed labored, we all took a trip to the ER. I thought they would say he had RSV, or something minor and send us home. We were taken to the back immediately and Eric was treated for respiratory issues but he did not improve.   Within a short matter of time, we were told that Eric needed to be airlifted to AI DuPont. Then one of the staff advised me that Eric’s heart looked swollen. After the helicopter took off we got on the road to DuPont; before we arrived, a doctor called and said that our son was very sick. Once we reached the hospital and Eric was stabilized we were advised the Eric had Dilated Cardiomyopathy and was in severe heart failure. He was then placed on a ventilator and meds to assist him. Later that week we met with the transplant team and learned that Eric needed a new heart to survive. Eric was listed on October 14, 2015. He showed outward signs of improvement, but his heart function was still poor. On Friday November 13, 2015 the transplant team came to Eric’s bedside to observe him. He was having a bad day and seemed to be worsening. They advised us that they had an offer for a heart for Eric. He went into surgery that night and was out by Saturday November 14, 2015 in the early morning.

Eric quickly recovered and is now at home with us, as of November 27, 2015 (his Dad’s birthday). Eric will require follow up appointments and medications for the rest of his life, but he is our miracle baby.