Valentina’s third heart surgery is scheduled for April 1 at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The beads she is wearing in this photo are part of the Beads of Courage program, through which children get a new bead for everything they endure, from x-rays to shots to surgery. Clearly, this little girl has been through a lot. She wears her beads with pride!
Photo Courtesy of Danielle Allen
Born Feb. 15, 2013, Howard Beach girl Valentina Allen has already experienced more challenges that most of us face in a lifetime full of hard knocks. In her first year, she underwent two major heart surgeries, and her third surgery is scheduled for this coming April 1. Valentina was born with a severely underdeveloped left ventricle, a rare congenital defect whose oldest known survivor is 26.
That 26-year-old was born during the advent of the type of surgery that Valentina has had, and is now an athlete who lives a normal and very active life.
Along with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, Valentina also has heterotaxy, a congenital defect where major organs are distributed abnormally in the body, and asplenia, which means that she was born with no spleen. In addition to the two heart surgeries, Valentina has had another to correct where her intestines were located.
Gold’s Gym will host its second “Team Valentina” fundraiser, scheduled to take place on Feb. 12, from 5-7 pm. As with the previous event, the fundraiser will be comprised of a Cardio-athon, a Lift-athon, raffles, a DJ, and the sale of Team Valentina t-shirts. The proceeds are committed to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where Valentina underwent her two heart surgeries – specifically to its social work department, which helps families be able to stay with their babies during surgeries; to the hospital’s cardiac child life program – which aims to make children’s hospital visits a little more enjoyable with games, arts and crafts, and music; and cardiac research, because as Valentina’s mother, Danielle, puts it, “hopefully Valentina will get to grow up, get married, have babies, and live a long, fulfilling life, which if she was born 30 years ago, she probably wouldn’t have been able to.”
After the April surgery, Valentina is expected to require one more heart operation, followed by cardiac catheterizations.
If you’d like to donate in Valentina’s honor and can’t make the fundraiser, please mail a check payable to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to Danielle Allen, 162-24 86th Street, Howard Beach, NY 11414. You may designate your gift to either the Cardiac Social or Cardiac Research departments in the memo section of the check. For up to date information on the Feb. 12th event, visit facebook.com/GoldsGymHB.
By Eugénie Bisulco
