I can remember the anticipation and excitement that built all the way up to when my first child was born. I also remember that those first weeks home were not easy. Managing through the emotions of a first born child while simultaneously learning to care for another human life was extremely challenging. That is why it is so hard for me to imagine what my parents went through when they found out, back in the 1960's, that something was not right with their first born son, Gary Wayne. It was obvious that something was off with his circulation from the bluish tinge that his skin was carrying. Gary was subsequently diagnosed with Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA), a congenital heart defect that effects 1 on roughly 3,400 children born in America. With TGA, instead of the heart, body, and lungs being connected in one system that oxygenates the blood, your circulatory system connects these three things in two independent systems, one that continually circulates oxygenated blood to the lungs and a second that circulates un-oxygenated blood to the body. Only the tiny hole that most people are born with between the ventricles of their hearts (it closes after birth) managed to provide some level of oxygen for Gary. Mom and Dad tried everything within their power to save him, including trips to the Mayo Clinic in MN. The treatments they used there to try to save my brother we largely experimental in the 1960's.
Gary would eventually succomb to the various challenges of treating his condition with what was then available. Despite her loss, Mom always pointed out that doctors and scientists gained ground against TGA through treating Gary and others like him.
An interesting thing has happened since my brother and I have grown into adulthood. As we've shared Gary's story with friends, we've discovered that several of them have their own TGA story. We've discovered that their kids benefited from the research of which Gary was a part. There are at least three great families that have blessed us not just with their stories of treatment and perseverance, but also with seeing their kids living robust and healthy lives.
When Mom passed last week, she was reunited with her oldest son for the first time in more than 50 years. My brother Phillip and I considered a lot of different options when considering how best to memorialize her, but in the end, we agreed Mom would always be thinking about others. Helping others to better deal with the challenges she and Dad faced at a young age seemed like the right move. This is why we have chosen this cause as way to pay tribute to the love we have for our Mom and that she always had for others.
Kevin McInturff