Luna was born full-term in June 2011, and her family had no idea what was in store. After just a few short hours, doctors realized she was not receiving enough oxygen in her blood and knew it was serious. Luna was immediately transported to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

She was connected to an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine to perform the duties of her heart and lungs. But after a week, Luna was not getting better. The team at Nicklaus Children’s decided to try one more idea, and a cardiology specialist ran a series of tests before determining that Luna had an extremely rare condition called a Chiari network, in which a web-like membrane that is supposed to disappear when a child takes his or her first breath was still in place. At just 7 days old, Luna underwent open-heart surgery under the care of the world-class Nicklaus Children’s cardiac team.

Today, Luna is 4 years old, and she and her mom help give back to the hospital that saved her life by sharing Luna’s story. You can support healthier, happier children like Luna by making a donation today.