Weston girl with heart defect creates gown to raise money for David Ortiz Children's Fund
WESTON -- Avery Nigrelli loves horseback riding, dancing, and drawing.
The Weston girl is living life to the fullest, despite being born with a heart defect. She went underwent open heart surgery before her second birthday.
"It had never even occurred to me in that moment that they made hospital gowns that small," said Avery's mom Jessica Nigrelli.
Now nine years old, Avery calls herself a "heart warrior," and had some ideas when it came to designing a gown of her own as part of the David Ortiz Children's Fund.
"It's the original Red Sox gray colors. and it says 'I love you' in rainbow colors in all different languages," said Avery.
"It really humanizes it a little bit and makes the medical part of it a little less scary," said Jessica.
In honor of Big Papi's upcoming induction into the Hall of Fame on July 24, the gowns are being sold at $34 apiece, with a goal of gifting 3,400 of them to partner hospitals.
The second gown was designed by David's daughter Alex Ortiz, with the words "I am Strong."
"What he wants to do is provide a more equitable opportunity for healthcare. Just everybody on the same playing field," Alex said.. "Back when the Boston Marathon bombing occurred, he gave a speech and it was something along the lines of, something I can't say on daytime TV, and then it ended with 'Boston Strong' and so the word 'strong' really stuck out to me," said Alex.
"This campaign is to honor David and his Hall of Fame Induction, and there's no greater way for a guy with such a big heart," said Jessica.
When asked why she chose the words 'I Love You' to put on the gown, Avery said, "because I want to make sure that kids know they feel loved. That they are and feel loved."
To buy a gown, visit https://www.bravegowns.com/products/david-ortiz.
