Our heart journey began with our 22-week ultrasound, which had to be redone several times—Winston was always in the wrong position, and they couldn’t get a clear reading of his heart.

Ada’s story begins before she was born—her heart defect was detected at the 20-week anatomy scan.

When I was born, my mother was advised by the pediatrician who helped deliver me that there was a subtle noise on my heart known as a heart murmur. The doctors monitored my heart regularly over the next few years.

After two years of cancellations due to COVID-19, our Hearts of Gold youth group was thrilled to get back to camp this summer!

After spending 41 of the first 60 days of her life in the hospital, our two-month-old daughter Alexandra had open-heart surgery on May 18, 2022.

This August, I will celebrate the 62nd anniversary of the open-heart surgery that repaired the atrial septal defect in my heart.

Last September, one of our North Vancouver heart warriors, Sophie Montalbano, decided to host her first lemonade stand, and she donated all the proceeds to the Children’s Heart Network.

Having children and a family of our own was a dream and huge priority for my husband and me. Unfortunately, we dealt with fertility issues for many years, and our first son, Quinn, was conceived via in vitro fertilization. Finally, a beautiful boy that we considered our miracle.