Howard Beach native Valentina Allen bravely fought her affliction since she was born in 2013. Photo Courtesy of Team Valentina.
The 2-year-old Howard Beach girl who captured a community through her innate resolve to defeat the heart disease she had been stricken with since birth succumbed to the affliction this week, her mother said.
Valentina Marie Allen died on Tuesday at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she had been receiving treatment since the beginning of April. She suffered from hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare congenital defect marked by a severely underdeveloped left ventricle.
“She passed away very peacefully in our arms,” mom Danielle said. “She put up a battle every single day, and she touched more lives and inspired more people than she will ever know. All of the prayers helped her to persevere this long, and now she will be a beautiful baby among the angels in heaven, forever watching over us all.”
Valentina, who lives with mom Danielle, dad Ryan, and older sister Victoria, underwent her first open-heart surgery when she was just three days old. She underwent a four-hour procedure on April 7 to replace the compromised valve. All signs pointed to a successful surgery, but on April 12, Valentina went into cardiac arrest.
“Her ventricle got used to not pumping so much blood, because the valve was so leaky, that when the new valve went in, it was just too much,” Danielle said.
Doctors intubated Valentina before she coded—cardiopulmonary arrest requiring immediate resuscitative efforts—twice. They then put her on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation life support “to let her heart really heal,” Danielle said.
Valentina was eventually taken off ECMO life support, and doctors noted that the ventricle was strong enough to wait for a new heart, so she was placed on the transplant list.
The arrangements for Valentina Marie Allen are: Friday, May 15, 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., at James Romanelli-Stephen Funeral Home, 89-01 Rockaway Blvd., Ozone Park; Saturday, May 16, Mass of Christian burial at 9:45 a.m. at St. Helen Roman Catholic Church, 157-10 83rd St., Howard Beach.
By Michael V. Cusenza michael@theforumnewsgroup.com
