Hi my name is Danny James Rollins. I was born March 19, 2018 and was diagnosed with Aortic Valve Stenosis when I was 2 days old. On April 12, 2018, my cardiologist told me I only needed to be monitored and that I wouldn’t experience any problems until I got older. I was doing well, gaining weight and growing until the week before Mother’s Day. I didn’t want to finish my bottle nor did I sleep well. I was also breathing oddly and crying a lot. My mommy and daddy thought I was a colic baby—that wasn’t the case.

On May 15, 2018, mommy took me to see Dr. Rosales, my pediatrician, because I was breathing very heavily and didn’t feel well. My mommy showed Dr. Rosales a video of me breathing and she immediately called an ambulance to transport me to Children’s Medical Plano ER on Legacy. Dr. Rosales thought I had Respiratory Failure and needed to be sure. Once I arrived at Children’s ER, an Echo was done to check my heart function. After the Echo a cardiologist came in and told mommy and daddy that my heart was enlarged from my rapid breathing and that I needed to be transported to Children’s Medical Dallas.

When the Children’s Dallas Transport Team arrived, daddy left so he could be at the Children’s Dallas  when mommy and I arrived. It took 3 tries to get me to Children’s Dallas. The first try, I was going to go by ambulance, but I started to turn gray and my heart rate went down. The second time, my breathing tube shifted and my heart rate when down again. The third time I went into cardiac arrest. When I finally got a decent pulse, I was flown by helicopter to Children’s Dallas. Mommy couldn’t fly with me since the Transport Team had to perform CPR on me the whole time.

When I arrived at Children’s Dallas, CPR was still being performed on me as I was rushed inside to ICU and put directly on an ECMO machine. The ECMO machine breathed and pumped blood for me, since I became too sick to do it myself. While being on ECMO, my medical team found significant narrowing in my aortic arch, pulmonary arteries and coronary arteries and found out that Williams Syndrome was the cause. I spent 14 days on the ECMO machine and then was put on the LVAD machine on May 29, 2018.

The LVAD Machine helped my left ventricle pump, while I waited to be put on the transplant list for a new heart. After 4 days of being on the LVAD, I was put on the transplant list. 24 hours later, mommy and daddy got a call on June 2, 2018 at 5:15pm and were told a heart was available for me. On June 3, 2018 at 2:30am my new heart started to beat for me. I was extubated on July 3, 2018 and on July 4, 2018 mommy and daddy finally got to hold me after 51 days. I loved every minute of it!

I am thankful for having the opportunity to be on the transplant list and receiving a heart within 24 hours. I am very thankful for the Children’s Medical Dallas doctors and nurses that are caring for me—If it wasn’t for their knowledge, patience and quick thinking, I may not be here today. I’m blessed for my family and friends praying for my healing and recovery—I’m blessed for having them in my life. Hopefully, I will be able to go home soon, but until then mommy and daddy will continue to work closely with my doctors and nurses on how to care for me.

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.