To the Editor:

I don’t understand the meaning of the word normal because my life is far from it. I wasn’t born as a normal, healthy child would be. I was born with atrioventricular canal defect, a hole in the center of my heart.

I was born on September 29, 1997 in Zamboanga City on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines and I was unable to breath and turned blue. My mother rushed me 435 miles north to Saint Luke’s Hospital in Manila and one week later I was diagnosed with a heart murmur. The doctor said I would need to have a surgery soon, so my mother flew me straight to the Westchester Children’s Hospital in New York.

On January 14, 1998, I had surgery to close the hole in my heart. One week after surgery, my mitral valve collapsed. I was rushed back to the emergency room where I had another emergency surgery. After spending a month in the hospital, Dr. Lester Permut implanted a pacemaker because of my abnormal heart rhythm called arrhythmia. Following surgery, I had rehab once every week to help with my development.

For me, life is an ongoing battle, but there will never be a time that you will be able to continue without hope.

In part, hope that was given to me from the American Heart Association from funding for research to general knowledge for the public that ultimately saved my life. I want to invite you to attend the 2009 Westchester County Start! Heart Walk on October, 4 2009 at 10 AM at the Kensico Dam in Valhalla, NY. Join me, and the Westchester community, to raise awareness and dollars for life-saving research.

Theodore Roosevelt, our 26th President said, “Some men are born great others have greatness thrust upon them.” I believe everyone should come to admire him because his story inspired me and one day I hope to achieve something great like him. I will never let anything get in my way.

For more information or to register, visit www.westchesterheartwalk.org or contact the American Heart Association at (914) 640-3274.

Daniel Atonna, 11
American Heart Association Junior Heart Walk Ambassador