NORTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — Ella Etherington was having the time of her young life.
She smiled. And giggled. And danced wildly with Bluey, her cartoon favorite, as she sang along to “Cowgirls” by her favorite artist, Morgan Wallen.
“Long live cowgirls!”
“Yeah! Long live cowgirls!”
The bespectacled eight-year-old wearing the pink-and-white hair bow and infectious grin was in little girl heaven as she cut the ribbon at the Lehigh Valley Zoo to kick off word about the American Heart Association’s Greater Lehigh Valley and Berks County Heart Walk to be held Sept. 22 at the zoo.
Yes, Ella was having the time of her young life.
It’s a life that, from the moment she was born, doctors weren’t certain would last till tomorrow.
“They gave her a 3 ½ percent chance of surviving, and I just didn’t know how to handle that,” said Chantele Etherington, of Hometown, Schuylkill County.
“We found out in utero that Ella had a congenital heart defect — hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which means the left side of her heart is underdeveloped. She needed surgery, but there were no guarantees.
“Those were the longest moments of my life.”
9 1/2 hour heart surgery
Surgeons at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia performed what is called a Norwood procedure on Ella’s heart.
The surgery involves rebuilding the aorta and connecting it to the right ventricle of the heart. Doctors may also insert a shunt to connect the aorta to the pulmonary arteries, or the right ventricle to the pulmonary arteries. This allows the right ventricle to pump blood to the lungs and the body,
Ella had this surgery. Nine and one-half hours long.
She was 2 ½ days old.
And her mother had not yet had a chance to hold the baby.
And wouldn’t until six weeks later.
“They gave her a 3 ½ percent chance of surviving, and I just didn’t know how to handle that."Chantele Etherington, Ella's mom
“As a new mom, it was heartbreaking not being able to hold her,” Etherington said. “But I can tell you, the first time that I did hold her after her chest was closed after the surgery, it was monumental.”
And, despite a host of challenges before her, and a necktie-long, respiratory tube that hung from her stoma, Ella danced.
CPR can save a life
And that’s what the celebration at the zoo was all about. Celebrating the importance of heart health and how anyone can save a life simply by learning how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR.
Nine out of ten people who suffer cardiac arrest outside of the hospital die. In most of those cases, bystander CPR was not performed.
That is why the American Heart Association is broadening efforts to drive CPR education, awareness and community initiatives through the Heart Walk, the Association’s largest community-facing initiative.
Through fundraising, community education and corporate engagement, the Heart Walk aims to enhance CPR training accessibility, bolster bystander preparedness, increase funding for vital research and save and improve lives from cardiovascular diseases.
“The Heart Walk is about encouraging everyone to learn CPR, but also about heart health in general,” said Marisa Carrodo, development manager for the American Heart Association in Lehigh Valley and Berks. “We want people to learn to be heart savers.
“Last year, with the funding we raised in the Lehigh Valley and Berks, we were able to train more than 28,000 people how to perform CPR. That is lifesaving.”
A warrior
As Ella danced, her pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Robert Palermo of CHOP Lehigh Valley, leaned down to her to offer words of encouragement.
A little girl who, with the help of her doctors and family, stuck out her tongue at survival outcomes and danced.
Even after spending her first nine months in the hospital.
Even after being flown in a helicopter back to CHOP three months later for another four-month stay.
Even after suffering four strokes and seven open-heart surgeries.
Even now, while still needing to take countless medications and be fed through a gastrointestinal tube in her stomach to improve her growth and odds of survival, Ella Etherington is a walking, singing, and dancing reason for everyone to do their part to learn about heart health.
Ella has a long road ahead. Expect her to dance every step of the way.
This little girl fighter wore a T-shirt with the message — Warrior — stacked four times. To know Ella, they were more than words.
A little girl with a smile to light up the night danced with her favorite cartoon character. As the music ended, she looked up at her mother and said the words every parent longs to hear from their child:
“I’m happy, mommy!”
Long live cowgirls!
For more information about the Heart Walk or to register, go to: https://www2.heart.org/site/TR/HeartWalk/FDA-FoundersAffiliate?fr_id=10963&pg=entry
