I’m Lindsay, the proud Aunt to Sofia and sister to her amazing mom, Jen.

Sofia was born 7 years ago with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, which means she was born with half of a heart . This was discovered the day after she was born when she was taken out of my sisters arms and rushed emergently to Wolfson Children’s Hospital where she remained for over 3 months.

Sofia has had two open heart surgeries, one of which caused her to go into cardiac arrest. No child should ever have to endure what Sofia has, yet she is the most sweet, happy-go-lucky, little girl.

Starting today, my sister and her family will be traveling from Florida to Boston Children’s Hospital for Sofia’s third open heart surgery. They decided to seek care in Boston because of the hospitals expertise in HLHS and because they would do anything for Sofia. They will be in Boston for a minimum of one month. It is possible Sofia will have the same surgery in Boston that she would have had in Florida, which is the Fontan. However, Boston will evaluate her for another surgery which gives us all more hope for a longer life and better future for her. This surgery would be a biventricular conversion.

Either Jen or Reinier will stay in the hospital every night, while the other will stay close by in a hotel for the first five critical nights. Maddi and Oliver, Sofia’s brother and sister, will be staying at a friends house who lives just outside of Boston. The strength of this family is unbelievable.

Jen and her family have been beyond grateful for every text, phone call, Facebook message, gift card, etc. The stories Jen has shared with me of the community outreach has brought me to tears. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for supporting Sofia, my sister, and her family!

I decided to create this Go Fund Me to help provide an outlet for anyone who would like to provide support. They would never ask for anything, but as one could imagine, this is a journey with many unknowns. Any proceeds will go towards Sofia’s medical expenses and their families expenses while they are in Boston.

The world is a brighter place, because of all of you. Please say many prayers for Sofia. We love you all!