TOLEDO, Ohio — February is National Heart Month and one local family is raising awareness about congenital heart disease.
Bryson Hoover was born six weeks early and quickly his parents, Amanda and Juston Hoover, learned something was wrong, but it would take a while to figure out just what that was.
"He was undiagnosed for two weeks. He spent six weeks in the NICU and during that time, we found out about his diagnosis," Amanda Hoover said.
Bryson was born with a congenital heart defect, an abnormality that forms in the heart before birth. It's one of the most common birth defects.
"They did one surgery and then did another surgery the same day, so we've had some complications," his mom explained.
"Bryson was a very unique type of congenital heart disease. When he was born, he was quite blue, so he had low oxygen levels and he needed something done right away or it would be catastrophic," Bryson's doctor, a pediatric cardiologist with ProMedica, Dr. William Suarez said.
Suarez said because of medical advancements, Bryson is the lively five-year-old boy he is today, adding, "He's had an excellent repair and you can't tell that he's ever had any type of congenital heart defect."
Suarez is also Amanda Harper's doctor. She was born with a congenital heart defect in 1981. She has also had open heart surgeries and countless heart catheterizations but said she hasn't been held back.
"(I) grew up doing some sports, cheerleading, horseback riding, showed horses and a little bit of basketball," Harper said.
Harper is now making it her mission to be there for other families experiencing CHD through the group "Conquering CHD Ohio," which has a chapter in northwest Ohio offering support groups for families and other activities.
"On Tuesday nights we have a Zoom chat night and trivia night for the teens. On Friday nights we do Zoom chat, peer-to-peer for all the adults," Harper said.
The Hoovers are also involved in the effort and want families to know there is support and hope. You can see it in their son.
"He's a normal kid. Ever since he's been home he's been hitting milestones and doing really well," Amanda Hoover said.
Suarez, Harper and the Hoovers all stressed the importance of pregnant moms getting 20-week ultrasound scans done, because it's that early on that defects can be found and intervention can happen, so babies have the best outcomes.
"Our diagnosis is really good. We're able to do it prenatally sometimes and after birth. We're able to get these kids identified and get them fairly quickly to surgery. The surgical results are outstanding," Suarez said.
If you'd like to get involved with Conquering CHD Ohio click here.
Visit here for the northwest Ohio private group.
For additional resources visit here.