NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. (EYT) — Every 15 minutes a baby is born with a congenital heart defect; Enna is celebrating this Valentine’s Day with all of her heart!
Enna Neiswonger celebrated her 1st birthday on January 27, 2021, and beat the 40% chance of living to see this day.
Enna was born with multiple complex congenital heart defects that, in turn, had doctors predicting she would not live to see her first birthday.
She suffers from Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return (TAPVR), an Unbalanced Common AV Canal, Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT), Dextrocardia, and Heterotaxy. These defects forced her heart to the side of her body, and it faces the wrong way. At birth, Enna’s pulmonary artery was obstructed, she had a hole in her heart, one side is significantly bigger than the other, and she did not have a spleen.
Enna’s life started off with doctors saying she only had a 40% chance of living longer than 24 hours, then it increased to six months. Once she made it to six months, it turned into a 40% chance of living to be one year old. Making it to one year, doctors see more optimism in the future.
Enna underwent surgery and was placed on an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation machine (ECMO), which is life support that acts as a heart and lungs. The machine pumps and oxygenates a patient’s blood outside the body, allowing the heart and lungs to rest.
At the age of nine months, she was placed on oxygen following her second heart surgery. Approximately two months later, Enna was able to ween off of oxygen and breathe on her own.
Despite the battles Enna has conquered, she enjoys being a little girl!
“She loves to jump and bounce, and she loves to make faces,” Enna’s mother, Destiny, added. “My family and I are so thankful for the cardiology team, the people, and churches of our community for getting us where we are now.”
Enna defeated the odds and made it to 12 months; here is to 12 more!
“We made it,” Destiny said. “She proved all the doctors wrong!”
Not only is Enna celebrating Valentine’s Day by beating the odds, but she is also celebrating Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week, which runs from February 7 to 14.
Enna lives in New Bethlehem with her parents, Clayton and Destiny, her older half-sister, Arabelle, and her younger sister, Amara.
