Niko is a three-year old boy who has seen more major surgery in his short lifetime than many of us do collectively. He was born with a major heart defect, essentially half a heart, which necessitated five open-heart surgeries, two on an emergency basis and the first when he was only 10 hours old. He is under constant doctors’ care. Niko has a devoted family and dedicated parents; his father serves in the United States Armed Forces and was deployed to Iraq. Niko lives in the greater Washington D. C. area, where, he attends the St. Katherine’s Greek Language Pre-school in Arlington, Virginia. This happy, courageous child is one of our own.
His mother, Kristina, tells us that she and her family have made it a point to raise money for facilities that helped them when they were most in need. As part of a foundation started by other parents of similarly ill children, “Big Hearts to Little Hearts”, they have raised funds, in part through an annual Walk-a-Thon, to support the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia that served Niko so skillfully and caringly. Niko has participated in four patient research studies at Children’s Hospital so that his experience might benefit others. While Niko’s future is uncertain, donations to the Cardiac Research Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia could benefit so many, both children and adults, through basic research. This hospital is considered one of the best in the world for the research and the treatment of children with congenital heart defects. Congenital heart defects take more infants’ lives that any other major disease.
We don’t know whether research can help Niko directly, but we can make sure that his life and experience make a difference for other children like him. We can send donations, big or small, to the Cardiac Research Center at Children’s Hospital IN HONOR OF NIKO.
Cardiac Research Center
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
you can also donate online
www.donate.CHOP.edu
(Source: Press Realease from AHEPA)
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