November 20, 2013 ~ Porter Grant Richardson entered this world kicking and screaming at 5:20pm weighing in at 6lbs 13oz/ 18.75″ long. Due to complications during pregnancy and since Porter was born at 35 weeks, he spent the first couple weeks of his life in the NICU at UNC Hospital where he was closely monitored. His big job while there was to eat and grow. While in the NICU, the doctors discovered Porter had some minor heart defects – a pulmonary stenosis and thickened valves, nothing that anyone thought would be an issue. Porter would just require some follow up in the coming months.
On December 7th Megan and Steve were ecstatic to find out Porter was coming home and his big Brother Oliver was finally going to be able to meet him. Oliver tried talking to Porter but when Porter didn’t answer him back he looked at us and said “Porter doesn’t talk!” Oliver has been a great big brother always letting mom and dad know when Porter would cry (just in case they couldn’t hear him) and that Porter was hungry. Between Porter’s homecoming and New Year’s Day, the family was able to spend a lot of time together and even took some family pictures.
The date January 3, 2014 is permanently burned into their minds as it changed their lives forever. Porter took a drastic turn for the worse not wanting to eat and he was sleeping a lot. Steve and Megan rushed him to the ER and they admitted him into the PICU at UNC Children’s Hospital immediately. Initially the doctors thought he had an arrhythmia. He has now been diagnosed with Restrictive and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. Additionally after numerous tests, Porter has been diagnosed with a rare form of a genetic disorder called Noonan’s Syndrome, only about 5% of people diagnosed with Noonan’s have the particular gene mutation that Porter has. These together are extremely rare in babies. With this type of heart disease the ventricles don’t relax which doesn’t allow them to fill with enough blood and the valves also thicken. In Porter’s case the only “cure” for this is a heart transplant. As you can imagine this news has been devastating.
During the first few weeks in the PICU, Porter was very sensitive to any change in care and
everyone questioned whether he would survive. To this day, he remains on a ventilator and requires medications, which are keeping him alive until he receives his heart transplant. After much help from the cardiac team, Porter has been placed on the transplant list and is just waiting for a heart. The family has partnered with COTA (Children’s Organ Transplant Association) which is a national charity dedicated to helping families with transplant related expenses. As you can imagine the costs associated with transplant and continued care after transplant are significant. With love, prayers and support, we hope you will help this amazing family fight for Porter. Your caring donation to COTA in honor of Porter will help the family with medical expenses related to Porters treatment and ongoing long term care that will be needed.
With the cost of a transplant often exceeding $500,000, many transplant families are unable to shoulder the financial burden of such a procedure. The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) is a national charity dedicated to organizing and guiding communities in raising funds for transplant-related expenses. In Cary, volunteers are raising funds for COTA in honor of transplant patients like local baby, Porter Richardson.
Porter is the son of Steve and Megan Richardson. Born on November 20, 2013, Porter was diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. The doctors at University of North Carolina Hospital in Chapel Hill have recommended a life-saving heart transplant. An estimated $75,000 is being raised by Cary volunteers.