Ryker Wallin was born in June of this year. He was born with a terminal congenital heart defect, Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). Ryker has fought complications since before birth with fluid surrounding his heart and blood backflowing into his lungs. Upon birth, Ryker went into immediate respiratory failure, needing to have a breathing tube placed and be on 100% ventilator support. Ryker was immediately taken to the OR to have a stent placed into his heart in order to drain blood properly and to stop it from going into his lungs. Ryker fought hard and made it through the procedure with little time to spare. Ryker briefly came off the ventilator, but then his lungs collapsed in the following days. Ryker initially needed an open-heart surgery known as the Norwood procedure, supposed to have this operation within the first week of life, but with these complications, he was not a candidate for this procedure. Ryker had flow restrictors placed into the arteries in his heart for his lungs, later needing to make them bigger as he was fighting with really low oxygen saturation levels. Ryker dealt with collapsed lungs and solely relied on the ventilator for almost 2 months until he was finally a candidate for the operation. In August 2025, Ryker underwent his first, and very major, open-heart surgery. This heart surgery reconstructed his heart and placed an artificial shunt to redirect blood flow.

Ryker has now gone through 5 heart catheterizations, 1 open-heart surgery, multiple blood transfusions, a surgically placed feeding tube, and more complications and scares than we can list. Ryker is currently awaiting his second major open-heart surgery that will occur on 12/22/25. The family has been out of work since his birth, traveling back and forth from Spencer to Charlotte, staying at the Ronald McDonald House and at their home. The family has 2 other children, 7 and 4. The oldest is in school, so there is quite a bit of travel they are having to do while Ryker is still in the hospital. The family is in need of financial help. Bills are piling up, on top of all the gas and food that is needed. Any donation will help.

Venmo is @Rykers-Journey

Thank you for your support and God bless you!