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Stories & Gallery

The Congenital Heart Surgeons' Society is recognized as a leader in congenital heart surgery research.  It is this research that leads to the hundreds of  inspirational success stories we hear about every year.  Many of our patients want to hear of stories just like theirs. This gallery is a collection of your stories and photos posted voluntarily by you.

These are the types of success stories that our research and heart surgeons make possible everyday.  Thank you to all for your continued participation in this very important endeavor!

Stories

life is good

Hi my name is George Pavic,i was born in Revelstoke B.C, August 5 1963.When i was an infant my parents noticed i was short of breath after any activities.Of course they took me to the doctor,he told mom that she was overprotective. Not to worry he is fine ,but still i was always sickly.My sister was born in 1965,but now we lived in Oakville On.One day shortly after, she went to the family doctor with my sister,and i went along.The nice Jamacian nurse that worked there noticed me out of breath,came over to take a better look.She than checked my lips and fingernails ,showed my mom t

Born in the right place at the right time

My name's Shelagh and I was born in Toronto in 1962 and diagnosed with tetralogy of fallot shortly after birth. In 1964 I had the Blalock-Taussig shunt which kept me going until I could have open heart surgery at age 8, in 1970. Up until age 8 I was blue, tired, cold, and had bad headaches. Fortunately for me, I was the youngest of 4 kids so I was basically treated (and mistreated) as a normal child, at least by my siblings. I was operated on by Dr.  William Mustard and after 9 hours of surgery came out pink and on the way to a pretty normal, healthy and happy life.

The Power of the Patient

My name is John MacEachern and was born in 1941 with Tetralogy of Fallot. At the age of 4, in 1945, Dr. Gordon Murray gave me the famous Blalck Taussig Thomas shunt, thereby making me the first in Canada to undergo such surgery.  I went on to graduate from Cornell University and had a successful career in the Hospitality Industry.  When I turned 50, in 1991, Dr. Bill Williams performed my "Repair" surgery.

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