Gavin Morgan wasn’t born yet when doctors diagnosed him with a large ventricular septal defect (VSD), a hole in the wall of the ventricle of his heart. His parents, Wade and Heather were referred to a team of prenatal specialists at Texas Children’s Hospital who kept a close eye on her and Gavin for the remainder of her pregnancy. At birth, doctors located what appeared to be an aneurysm near Gavin’s heart that they thought might contribute to cardiomyopathy, which is death of the muscle tissue of the heart. Gavin was sent home, but within six weeks, he was back at Texas Children’s when his parents were concerned about his frequent “panic” crying attacks. After tests, the doctors told Heather that Gavin’s heart was three times its normal size and that he would need a heart transplant to survive. It’s been almost 14 years now that Gavin’s had his gift of life! A perfect stranger decided to be an organ donor, the day that was the worst day of their life. We are forever grateful to all organ donors and their families.
Since transplant, Gavin has had many obstacles in his health. He had post-transplant lymphoma at age 5, knee surgery at age 8, lots of ENT and GI issues. Keeping Gavin healthy has been somewhat of a challenge. We know where to take him whenever we need care, that’s at Texas Children’s Hospital. Through the many departments we see for specialist, we found out about Hunt with Heart. This organization has been a blessing to Gavin’s family. He has been able to meet new friends that face medical challenges just like him. While we are in patient at the hospital the team at HWH come to visit Gavin. They brought him books, art and craft projects and have helped assist with parking costs. It’s a delight to get visitors from HWH since our family lives out of town.
Gavin has enjoyed taking fishing trips and hunting trips with kids like him. As Gavin grows into a young man, these relationships are extremely necessary to know he’s not alone. Being a teen is hard enough and feeling secure in a group like HWH definitely puts his mind at ease. Many kids his age do not understand all he’s been through. Most of his local peers do not know the health challenges he faces daily due to side effects of medication and different therapies he does. HWH allows our family to meet other families going through similar trials this makes us all know we are not alone. We love being connected to this awesome organization that simply bring us all together knowing we are never alone with the struggles and challenges life tosses at us! Bringing us back to nature, surrounded by others who “get it” makes us happy at heart!!
Thank you HWH for all you do, have done and will continue to do as Gavin grows into a young man!
Grant was born in Singapore. We found out shortly after his birth he had a heart murmur and his diagnosis quickly escalated to needing an immediate coarctation repair. We made the decision to stay in Singapore for his surgery rather than risk flying back to the United States. Grant’s surgery was successful and we moved backed to Texas about 6 months later and met with Dr. Dreyer at Texas Children’s Hospital. Grant has Aortic Valve Stenosis and will need a valve replacement someday, but he has also had two valvuloplasty procedures. After years of excellent care at TCH by his doctors and nurses, Grant was invited to attend Beaver Creek Ranch in 2018, and for the first time met other boys who also deal with annual (or more) doctor visits, surgeries, medication, and scars. Although Grant is fortunate enough to live an active lifestyle by playing water polo and being in his high school marching band, Hunt with Heart has given him amazing opportunities to experience confidence and success. Grant just turned 18 and will be graduating from high school this May. He plans to attend college next year and has received four acceptances but has not made a final decision.