“Helping other people is a really important part of my life.” When Jenna Engelsvold first arrived at Seattle Children’s as a nursing student more than a decade ago, she knew this is where she wanted to be. “I was walking down the hall and looking around and just felt this gut feeling that this was […]
In 2016, Seattle Children’s extended their mobile extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) capabilities to provide the service to critically ill children during transport to the hospital from anywhere in a five-state region. ECMO is an advanced life-support therapy that functions for the heart and lungs when the organs fail or need to rest. Seattle Children’s became […]
A picture is worth a thousand words, or so the old saying goes. But how much is a 3D-printed model of what’s in that picture worth? For pediatric surgeons who use 3D-printed hearts of the children they operate on, their impact can be huge. And for surgeons-in-training, this technology can allow them to learn new […]
As Director of Cardiac Catherization Labs at Seattle Children’s, Dr. Brian Morray routinely performs diagnostic as well as complex heart procedures on patients as young as a few days old all the way up to adults. Part of his job is to provide minimally invasive services for children with congenital heart disease (CHD). “Congenital heart […]
Two weeks before their 3-month-old son was scheduled for his second open-heart surgery, Kyle and Samantha Hatch were told their daughter likely had neuroblastoma. “We were utterly broken,” Samantha said. “But we had to pull it together for our children.” After Penny’s tumor was discovered on her MRI, she needed a biopsy to definitively diagnose […]
Who are your heroes? Are they exceptionally talented? Do they have superhuman abilities? Are they destined for greatness? Or, are they ordinary people who face tremendous challenges and persevere out of love? Kyle and Samantha Hatch undoubtedly fall in the latter category. In the past year, one of their twin sons was born with a […]
It was during a 20-week ultrasound that Sarah Ouellette got life-changing news: Her baby would be born with a serious heart defect. “They didn’t know if my baby would survive,” Ouellette said. “But I knew deep down that I wanted to fight for my child’s life.” Feeling lost, Ouellette sought out a second opinion. “I […]
On New Year’s Eve of 2019, Sierra Landman learned she was pregnant with her first child. “We were so excited,” Landman said. “Then we learned that something wasn’t right with our baby’s heart.” Nevaeh Landman was born on September 10, 2020 at Madigan Army Medical Center with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and immediately rushed to […]
Tuesdays are 2-year-old Malachi Stohr’s favorite days. Every Tuesday, rain or shine, Whitney Stohr and Malachi bundle up and wave to the garbage men as they empty the garbage bins at the end of the driveway. Malachi and Whitney then take a walk around the neighborhood, following the big green truck along its route. Malachi […]
On May 7, 2018, Whitney Stohr slumped to the ground in the corner of her son’s room in Seattle Children’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Her son Malachi, who was born with a severe form of spina bifida, had undergone a tracheostomy days before. When he woke up after the procedure, his pain was so intense […]