“I was born with a broken heart. Then the doctor’s came in and fixed my special heart with a heart-breaker machine. Then they sewed me back up. Here’s my scar. Today I’m wearing red to honor all of the other kids that are born with broken hearts.”
-Barbara, 5 years old.
These were the words my daughter shared with her pre-school class last Friday on National Wear Red Day, the start of Congenital Heart Defect Awareness week. Ever since our daughter was born almost five years ago with heart complications, it has become my family’s mission to help raise awareness and research funds for CHDs.
This past Saturday night, I was asked to speak at an event honoring Dr. Vaughn Starnes, the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles surgeon who saved my daughter’s life. I’ve worked some pretty amazing venues in my life, but nothing quite matches up to speaking in front of this man to whom my family owes everything.
As I presented to the doctors and nurses of CHLA on the night before the Grammy Awards, I told them that they are the biggest rock stars in the world to me. They save thousands of babies’ lives each year, which in turn effects millions of people. It was a personal highlight for me to be able to make Dr. Starnes laugh that night, while also personally thanking him for giving our sweet Barbara the gift of life.
My wife and I hadn’t seen Dr. Starnes since the day he operated on our daughter, and I remember exactly what he told us after the surgery that day.
“The surgery went great. Now it’s time to let your little girl grow up.”
And grow up Barbara has. She loves singing, princesses, and centipedes, and I’m pretty sure she’s going to be a movie director one day because she’s always telling everybody what to do and say.
When I shared with Dr. Starnes that my family had appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to share Barbara’s story, he told me that his wife loves the show, and he enjoys it whenever he can catch it as well. Here’s the video of us on Ellen back in 2010.
Taking a picture with the man who saved my daughter’s life.
Now, five years later, my wife, my parents, and I were able to enjoy an evening on the town while honoring one of the true heroes in the world.
I’m also proud to now to be a heart ambassador for CHLA, helping to raise funds going towards a new hybrid surgery center which would help kids have more minimally invasive cardiac procedures and lead to quicker recovery times and reduced hospitalization. If you had any interest in donating to this groundbreaking mission led by our hero, Dr. Vaughn Starnes, you can do that here.
Thank you Dr. Starnes — You’re the man that fixed my daughter’s broken heart. Look at her now.
That’s my girl. She’ll be five later this month.
My dad and I talking “Ellen” with Dr. Starnes and his wife.