Not all heroes wear capes, and not all who fight for their lives wear armor.
Seventeen-month-old Alexander was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) while still in the womb. HLHS is a heart defect where the left side of the heart is either underdeveloped or did not develop, leaving the right side of the heart to do all the work, pushing blood throughout the body and the lungs.
While most parents are packing their bags to leave the hospital after the birth of their child, Alexander’s parents, Jessica and Wes Alleman were preparing for open-heart surgery for their little miracle who was just two days old. This surgery was the first of three open-heart surgeries that would be required before Alexander celebrated his third birthday. Alexander’s first surgery consisted of a band being placed on his pulmonary artery to slow down the blood flow to his lungs and help circulate the rest of his body. During the operation, the surgeons observed that Alexander’s heart was in heart block, requiring he have an external pacemaker. His heart never came out of heart block, and at ten days old, he had a permanent pacemaker put in.
Baby Alexander not only endured his first surgery at such a tender age, but he was admitted to the hospital two additional times for anemia, requiring blood transfusions for each admittance before the age of five months old. On July, 2013, he underwent his second of three open heart surgeries. He will have his third surgery within the next year to year and a half.
Alexander and his family will be a part of the American Heart Association’s Santa Clarita Heart Walk on Saturday, September 20 at Westfield Valencia Town Center. Team Baby Alleman Superman Heart will be showing their support for one of Santa Clarita’s tiniest heroes. “We are looking forward to learning about what new research is out there, and hoping to hear about some of the donations collected that will go toward Congenital Heart Diseases,” states Jessica. “One out of 110 children are diagnosed with CHD, and Alexander is part of that statistic. He is our heart warrior and has been through more stuff than most of us ever have or will go through.”
Come join Team Baby Alleman Superman Heart and the community for the 2014 Santa Clarita Heart Walk, which will take place at Westfield Valencia Town Center. Registration/Expo begins at 7:30 a.m. with the walk at 8:30 a.m. There will be a 5K Walk/Run, 1-Mile Survivor Route, Kids Fun Zone, Live Entertainment and more. There is no fee to participate. The walk aims to raise funds to fight heart disease and stroke, the nation’s number one and number four killers.
For more information, visit www.HeartWalkLA.org, email alisha.castro@heart.org or call 213-291-7094. To follow Alexander’s progress, visit http://babyalleman.blogspot.com/.