Warren mother seeks community support as 1-year-old son waits for heart transplant
A Warren, Michigan, mother is asking the community for help as her 1-year-old son fights a life-threatening heart condition.
China Reynolds says it's a position she never thought she'd be in.
CBS News Detroit visited her at the CS Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor to learn what's being done to save his life.
One-year-old Auggie Stevenson was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, essentially half a heart. When he went into cardiac arrest on the operating table, University of Michigan doctors decided it was too risky to fix it with surgery. Now he's waiting on a new heart altogether.
"They said it could take from six months to a year," said Reynolds.
That's the amount of time doctors say her son could be waiting for his heart transplant.
"He's been really, really strong throughout this entire process, so I just commend him for that, for everything he's gone through, and he still has a smile on his face when he can," Reynolds said.
University of Michigan doctors say his heart isn't strong enough to keep him alive, so they're using an external heart pump until a transplant is available.
"That helps circulate his blood, taking blood from his atrium and pumping it through his aorta so he can have the circulation he needs to survive. He's been able to eat, and play, and just be a kid again," said CS Mott Children's Hospital Pediatric Heart Failure director Dr. David Peng.
Reynolds says she's commuted between Warren and Ann Arbor the past three weeks to be by her son's side.
"Being over an hour away, it's a little difficult, but with the support from the community, it's been a bit easier to be by Auggie's side as much as I can," she said.
She's created a GoFundMe for medical bills, travel expenses, lodging, and care for her other son, hoping the community will pitch in for their long road ahead.
Peng says he's hopeful Auggie will get his new heart in the coming months, which will grow with him as he gets older.
"The median survival is about 23 years for someone of Auggie's age, but some infants from the 90s are still alive with their original heart, so our treatment of heart transplant has improved, so we're hopeful he can live a long life," he said.
Reynolds also says she hopes sharing her story will help people consider the miracles organ donation makes possible.
