Saving lives with VR

" It’s news no parent wants to hear.

Three days after their daughter Annika was born, Allison and Adam Seed learned their baby girl had multiple heart defects, including a rare combination of defects called “tetralogy of fallot with pulmonary atresia,” which affects blood flow and oxygenation. Three days later, Annika had the first of several risky open heart surgeries at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Fortunately for the Seeds, Annika’s physicians were some of the best in the business. To address her life-threatening condition, Annika would undergo six surgeries by the time she turned 2 years old. By the age of 6, she’d had three open-heart surgeries and five cardiac catheterizations, a trial-and-error process that allowed the surgeons to learn what would be best for Annika as they observed her progress.

While their daughter’s devastating diagnosis left her parents with what they describe as the “complete feeling of powerlessness,” the aggressive treatment Annika received over those two years at Boston Children’s Hospital has given them hope that Annika will be one of the lucky ones to live a full life that most of us take for granted..." Lire la suite