Xander was born on August 15, 2014 with several congenital heart defects. Xander lives in Jenison, Michigan and has Double Outlet Right Ventricle (DORV), Single Ventricle, and Pulmonary Stenosis.  When both the pulmonary artery and aorta arise from the right ventricle, it is called DORV.  In addition, Xander was born with only one ventricle that was large or strong enough to function effectively (single ventricle) and had narrowing from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery (stenosis).  He had a heart catheterization procedure in October to balloon his pulmonary artery and underwent the Hemi-Fontan on December 17, 2014.

Xander is a fighter. After his first open-heart surgery, he spent only five days in the hospital recovering before being discharged. He is an incredibly strong little boy. Xander’s mother, Crystal, says that the Heart Hero Capes are a great way to help kids with CHD build up their courage to face their CHD journey. Having a Heart Hero in their lives means that Xander’s parents don’t take their children for granted. They know how precious each moment is and spend as much time as possible with them.

Having a Heart Hero can reinforce the little things in life for many people. To celebrate Xander’s life and surgery anniversary, they plan to have close family and friends for a heartiversary party.  At Crystal’s workplace in Michigan, the employees are holding a Hearts for Heroes fundraiser in honor of Heart Hero Xander.  The fundraiser is going really well, running through the end of the month.  So far, more than $3,000 has been raised for Heart Heroes, Inc., helping to outfit a lot of Heart Heroes with superhero capes!

Follow Xander’s Heart on Facebook and stay with him through his journey with CHD.  Remember, for every comment on Xander’s (and the other Daily Heroes) blog pages this week will be entered to win from an awesome array of prizes!  Winners drawn Saturday, February 28.