Help Support Gabriel's Heart Transplant Journey

Our son Gabriel Christian Holden was born on November 15, 2013. He is our youngest child.

While I was pregnant, he was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, or HLHS. It is one of the most complicated and severe heart defects.

He had 3 open-heart surgeries before he was 2 years old. The Norwood at only 7 days old, the Glenn at 6 months old and the third, the Fontan at 22 months old. There were many ups and down during his hospital and surgery stays.

He had seizures at a month old, but they were mild and he only had a couple. He was on Keppra for a few weeks. He also had a stroke. But we didn't find out until he was 15 months old. That caused some brain damage and some learning delays. He was also diagnosed with Autism (ASD) at age 5 and ADD at 9. He is now 11½.

He is one of the sweetest kids you will ever meet. He loves cars, and Nascar and watching the races. He can tell you just about every kind of vehicle on the road! He loves his German Shepherd, Loki, who he hasn't seen in 5 months.

There is never a dull moment with him. He loves to joke and play and laugh.

He has fought just to be in this world. He is a miracle.

But on February 1st, 2025, after almost 10 healthy years, things took a turn. Gabe was getting ready to go to Sunday School. He looked strange. He was standing up and acted like he was going to fall asleep. His oxygen was dropping. He always ran in the 92-95 range. He was running 87-92. So, we called his doctors. They were ok with his numbers, as long as he felt okay. He felt better. Then we got a call from the school nurse. His oxygen had dropped again! This time, it was running around 85-90 and 92! That is very low for him.

On March 12th, 2025, we took him for what we thought would be routine testing for a few days at WVU Children's Hospital in Morgantown, WV. Within 48 hours, Gabe and I were on a plane to Cincinnati Children's Hospital!

We arrived Friday afternoon, March 14, 2025. A lot of tests were ran. We had a lot of consults. Gabriel was in end-stage heart failure. He needed a new heart.

He had a heart catheterization and a cardiac MRI so that his cardiac team could get a better look at his heart and everything else heart related. Other medical interventions were tried and eventually failed.

Then on May 13th, 2025, he had a what was supposed to be a routine heart catheterization done to repair 3 stents from the Fontan. The repair went extremely well. However, while anesthesia was

trying to extubate him as he was waking up, his heart bottomed out and he coded. Thankfully, they brought him back and got him somewhat stable. As soon as the team was bringing him out of the Cath Lab to his room in the ICU Gabriel coded again. They were able to bring him back again and get him stable. But sadly, he remained intubated.

On May 19th, he underwent his 4th open-heart surgery. It was 15 hours long, not counting recovery time. Gabriel stayed intubated for 7 extremely long days. Not hearing his voice was the worst thing, absolute torture for Oatie and I! He was intubated for 13 days total.

He had to have what's called an SVAD. It's a Single Ventricular Assist Device. It is a mechanical device that makes his heart pump. It is only a bridge to transplant. This device runs on batteries and electric power.

We are doing this fundraiser to help us with expenses while we remain in Cincinnati. We are also doing this to try to get a small generator. The power goes out all the time where we live, for hours or even days at a time. Gabe's batteries only last up to 17 hours. This would be lifesaving for him.

We are so grateful for all the help we have received.