Meet Owen

The Heart of MFB’s President and CEO, Dr. Sarah Diamond found out about her son’s CHD during an ultrasound at about 16 week’s gestation. Read her story below.

Our lives forever changed in March of 2016 when we learned by sheer coincidence of our unborn child’s serious heart condition. At about 16 weeks’ gestation, there was speculation of a pregnancy related issue that resulted in obtaining a second opinion. During this second opinion, we were reassured that everything was fine with the pregnancy and our unborn child. We were told that it wasn’t believed to be necessary for a third opinion; however, we decided to seek a third opinion as a tiebreaker. This entailed consulting with a maternal fetal specialist because of such conflicting observations between the two doctor appointments we had with different providers.

After numerous doctor appointments with this specialist over a short period of time to monitor what was believed to be a possible heart condition for our child, it was confirmed that our child would be born with a very serious heart condition. This is a day we will never forget.

​How could this be happening to us? I remember being so angry and incredibly saddened all at the same time that it was extremely difficult to remain focused on anything. Fortunately, after what seemed like a day, we developed the motivation to begin researching everything we possibly could about Congenital Heart Defects (CHD’s) and tried to remind ourselves how lucky we were that we knew about this before Owen’s birth and could begin planning for him to receive the best medical care possible.

Our son spent the first six weeks and two days of his life in the hospital and received his first open heart surgery at one week of age. He received his second open heart surgery at three months of age.

​We truly have a miracle that we are incredibly grateful for and are amazed at what we have learned and how far we have come throughout our journey. We strive to help others in their journey and appreciate all the support from people we know, our medical teams, our community, and strangers.

​The biggest thing that has kept us strong is having hope. In the most difficult times through our journey, hope is what keeps us strong and holding on as best we can.

Owen turn 5-years old this summer (July 2021) and will begin kindergarten in the fall! What a blessing!

​“You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.” -Bob Marley