Meet June's Legendairy Little, Liam

Each month we donate a portion of our proceeds to a child with medical needs through the Legendairy Littles program. During June, we will be featuring Liam.

At his 20-week anatomy scan, everything was going smoothly, and Liam’s parents joyed seeing how much their baby boy had grown. After scanning his heart more in-depth, Liam was diagnosed with a rare congenital heart defect, Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome, and Pulmonary Atresia. Liam’s parents were referred to a pediatric cardiologist who did a fetal echo and confirmed Liam's heart issues. Liam’s mom was followed closely throughout the pregnancy to monitor his growth and the size of the extremely small right ventricle and heart valves. Liam’s parents picked his name because it means “strong-willed warrior, Guardian, Protector,” all words that describe him. 

During an induction at 39 weeks, Liam quickly communicated that his heart would not handle the birth. In January 2023, Liam was born via c-section, weighing 7 pounds 7 ounces. Liam was introduced to the NICU quickly after birth, being cared for by his mom’s coworkers. After being stabilized, he was transported to a Children’s Hospital Cardiac ICU. Since birth, Liam has spent every day in the Cardiac ICU and Cardiac Step-Down unit. He has required three trips to the Cath Lab to place stents in his PDA and Pulmonary Arteries. Doing this has helped get blood flow to his lungs. 

Liam has lived in the hospital since birth, waiting for a new heart. Before a recent stent, Liam was unstable with serious EKG changes along with dangerously elevated blood work levels. When doctors found an unrepairable coronary artery problem, doctors placed Liam on 1A status, the highest priority to receive a new heart. Liam has been living up to his name's meaning and eating and growing amazingly. Doctors have now decided that he will have the first of two open heart surgeries of the single ventricle palliation to try to delay his heart transplant as long as they can. All of Liam’s care and surgeries are considered palliative. This means that they will continue to help Liam live until one day, they stop working. Liam’s health complications cannot be fully cured and will have lifelong complications. 

Liam is a sweet and active growing boy. Although he has never been able to leave the hospital, he continues to meet all of his developmental milestones. He has impressed all of his medical team with his ability to eat like a champ, a skill that is uncommon for heart babies. He has the best eyelashes, the most infectious smile and loves to connect with all of the nurses. 

During the month of June, a portion of our proceeds will be donated to Liam’s family to help with his ongoing medical expenses. Liam’s mom has been a NICU nurse for 13 years, and his dad is finishing his first year of Physician Assistant school. Their careers have had to take a back seat to Liam’s needs. 

If you would like to donate directly to their family, you may do so on their GoFundMe page:  https://gofund.me/a56b8349