Our faith in God, our baby’s intense desire to live,  and the highly qualified staff of Cardiologists and nurses who took care of our baby kept us positive about his recovery. The recent advancements in technology are truly incredible and have allowed for complicated procedures to be far less invasive to tiny babies.  The time that we spent at the hospital by his side was very difficult for us. Our baby’s condition was so unstable in the beginning that we were living our days one hour at a time. There was no “tomorrow” at that time.   As a parent the feeling of watching your child battle for his life and not being able to do anything to help is excruciatingly painful. We felt this not just for our own baby’s condition but also, for all the other babies around us battling for their lives. 


After numerous studies, x-rays, two heart procedures, echocardiograms and dozens of visits to the hospital, our baby boy is now at home with us. He is about to turn 10 months in a few days.  While he is still being monitored, our son has made a truly miraculous recovery, and as you can see in the picture, he looks great! He is a very happy and fun loving baby.   I feel honored and blessed to be his Dad.


Four months after he was born, I decided to do something in return for the many blessings that we received during my son’s treatment.   My wife and I first heard about the Children’s Heart Foundation through their very well written and informative book that was given to us at Rady’s.  As I researched about the foundation.  I felt connected to their mission statement: “To fund the most promising research to advance the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of congenital heart defects.”   

Today is the official launch of the “Touch a Child’s Heart” fundraising campaign. We want to help the Children’s Heart Foundation accomplish its goals. We want them to keep funding research that will help to save lives.  We are very fortunate to have such a healthy son and want to do all that we can to help in the prevention and advancement in treatments for Congenital Heart Disease (CHD).

Did you know?

-There are more than 40 different types of congenital heart defects.
- Little is known about the cause of most of them.
-  91,000 lives are lost each year in this country due to CHDs.
- In the US, a child is born with a CHD every 15 minutes.
- More than 50% of all children born with congenital heart defect will require at least one invasive surgery in their lifetime.  
- Of every dollar the government spends on medical funding only a fraction of a penny is directed toward CHD research.
- Only one penny of every dollar donated to the American Heart Association goes towards CHD research.
- In the last decade death rates for congenital heart defects have declined by almost 30% due to advances made through research.  
-The Children's Heart Foundation has directed $3.6 million to 37 CHD research projects at leading research centers. Congenital heart defects are the leading cause of all infant deaths in the US.  
- The Children's Heart Foundation is the only organization that was created to exclusively fund CHD research.  

Over the next several months, the HISCEC will engage in many productive activities to help us reach our fundraising goal.




Thank you very much for your support.

Sincerely,

Tayde Aburto
President & Marketing Director
Hispanic Chamber of E-Commerce