Niagara Health Foundation – Celebration of Lights
Nash Donovan has a date with Disney World next October.
His mother, Cass, is planning a dream vacation to the Magic Kingdom, knowing it could be the trip of a lifetime for the spirited toddler and his family.
Nash, just shy of two, was born with a congenital heart defect that’s left him with a hole in his heart and an issue with one of his valves. Neither will heal without serious medical intervention, so in addition to arranging a visit to Disney next year, Cass is also preparing for the heart surgery Nash will need by the time he turns four.
“Kids like this make you cherish life a little more,” Cass said. “We’re trying to do everything we can to make life better for him.”
There are countless others, particularly doctors and nurses at Niagara Health, who have worked to make life better for Nash and his family, too.
When Nash was 13 days old in December 2016, he was admitted to hospital in St. Catharines for shallow, inconsistent breathing. He was there a week in the special care nursery when his medical team determined he had a heart issue called partial atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD).
While one in every 100 children is born with a heart defect, only four per cent are diagnosed with AVSD.
“It was terror and lots of unknowns,” Cass recalled.
After that, there were other trips to the hospital related to his AVSD. One visit kept Nash from experiencing Halloween in his neighbourhood. Another saw him stay over March Break, which meant his older brother Aidan wouldn’t enjoy the same kind of vacation from school as his classmates.
During that initial visit when Nash was diagnosed with his heart defect, Cass was certain they’d spend his first Christmas in hospital. They were discharged Dec. 21, just in time for the family to catch Aidan’s holiday concert at his school.
In every instance, though, Cass recalled a medical team who tried to make everyone in the Donovan family as comfortable and as included as possible. On Halloween, medical staff dressed up and delivered candy to Nash in his room. During March Break, they provided Aidan with access to video games, “which was a big deal for him to be able to do that,” Cass recalled.
“The pediatrics team there were a huge part of our lives in Nash’s first year. The whole pediatrics nursing team is fantastic. It takes a special person (to do that job), that’s for sure.”
As a show of thanks — and as Nash’s second birthday nears — the Donovans are encouraging friends, family and the Niagara community to consider donating to Niagara Health Foundation’s annual Celebration of Lights campaign. Money raised during the campaign is used to purchase urgently needed equipment in all Niagara Health sites.
Patient care equipment, like those over-bed warmers that kept Nash comfortable in his earliest days, or the Stryker Incubator Transport Stretcher he needed to get from the hospital in St. Catharines to Hamilton, aren’t funded by the government, making Celebration of Lights donations essential to providing extraordinary care.
In addition, the Donovans are holding their own toy and birthday drives to ensure children admitted to Niagara Health during the holidays or over their birthday can enjoy “a bright spot” during their stay.
For now, the family is enjoying their own bright spot — a toddler who is holding fast against the health challenges he faces so he can get to Disney World.
“As of right now, he’s good,” Cass said. “He’s into everything. You wouldn’t know to look at him that anything is wrong. He’s just a firecracker.”
Visit niagarahealthfoundation.com to learn more.