My name is Natalie I was born with heart failure and 22q11.2 Deletion syndrome, but I’m a warrior since birth!

I’ve had so many medical complications, and God has always taken care of me. 

Although it hasn’t been easy to spend more than half of my life time in the clinics and hospitals, I am super grateful to be able to spend every day by my family and friends. I love my family, dogs, going to school, helping everyone around me. I love joining all sports that come up and love swimming and playing water balloons! Here’s a bit of background history of my life. 

I was born with heart failure – my left ventricular doesn’t pump enough blood throughout my body. For 14 years my family and my amazing medical team at Stanford was able to keep me healthy. Unfortunately from one day to another my left ventricular just decided to get super sick, but God sent me to the clinic at the perfect time. I was admitted and a day later had to have a major heart surgery to get a pump installed to help my heart pump because my heart was already making my lungs and kidney sick. I am super grateful to God and all the technology available because my heart continues to pump with a heart mate 3 pump. The heart mate 3 pump needs to be replaced maybe in 5 years – that’s the usual lifetime. In the meantime I won’t be able to return to school, play sports, run with my dogs or go swimming. Most likely I won’t have a normal life until a heart donor comes along. 

I’m a candidate for heart transplant. I’m working hard on recovering from my first heart surgery in order to be healthy and strong for my heart transplant. I am currently on the wait list, and although this can take years to happen, I know God is on my side and he will send the perfect heart for me at the perfect time. I want to be prepared for my heart as soon as possible but in order to do this, I need all of your help! Please help by sharing the link below. God bless your hearts!

The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) helps children and young adults who need a life-saving transplant by providing fundraising assistance and family support. COTA is the nation’s only fundraising organization solely dedicated to raising life-saving dollars in honor of transplant-needy children and young adults. 100% of each contribution made to COTA in honor of our patients helps meet transplant-related expenses. COTA’s services are free to our families, and gifts to COTA are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.