My heart condition helped me to grow and care

By Sophia Merrill

Sophia Merrill at the 2011 American Heart Association Walk in Minnesota

Growing up, all I knew was doctor’s appointments, surgeries and seeing my parents crying. I was so little and had no idea what was going on. I would be going into surgeries each year and hated the whole experience. As I got older, I grasped the situation and knew there was something wrong with my heart. I was born with a coarctation of the aorta and a ventricular septal defect (VSD).

I had two open-heart surgeries and nine following surgeries. Many other children would ask me about my scars and my mom taught me to say they were my "zippers" that showed how strong I was (sometimes I would mess around and say they were shark bites). My family taught me to be proud of what I have accomplished and to not let it bring me down because I was "different." This was a struggle growing up because when I was younger, I wanted to have a "normal" body like all the other girls surrounding me. I had a really bad image of myself due to these scars, but as I grew, I learned it was something I shouldn't be ashamed of but proud of.

Throughout my surgeries, I had many different people who helped my family and me. Today I’m 20, and I am using my experiences to give back to the people who helped me and people like me. I currently volunteer at a children’s hospital in Nebraska, going room to room asking if patients and their families need anything, cleaning rooms, hanging out with the patients and much more. I hope one day I can become a child life specialist to help children and families like mine. In January, I applied for my practicum sessions and hope to gain connections. Then this fall or next spring, I hope to get accepted into an internship. Becoming a child life specialist is a lot of work, but I think it will pay off more than I know.

Overall, the process has been grueling, but I have turned it into a positive outcome. I have made my story into something that pushes me to my future career and allows me to tell my story to other children and families in similar situations. I believe it gives those families some hope for the patient, and that is all I want to do. I am forever grateful for how my heart has shaped me today.

For more information on this health topic, visit heart.org.

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