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The life-saving research, financial support and heart health education services that the American Heart Association of Southern California Central Coast Division provides to hundred of residents each year was personified by a young girl who inspired more than 300 guests at the recent 2015 Santa Barbara Heart Beach Ball at Bacara Resort & Spa.
When 11-year-old Makayla Skelton learned from her parents that her little sister, Charlie, had been diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, at 22 weeks gestation, she leaped into action after the initial shock had subsided.
With the help of her parents, Joslynn and Andrew Skelton, Makayla decided to form Hearts for Charlie, a social media campaign to raise awareness for her sister and countless other children diagnosed with cardiovascular heart disease everyday.
“I was scared for my sister at first but I prayed to God to help us and to help my sister live and give her a life that she deserves,” she said. “I want to watch her grow up.
“Now look at her. She’s happy and smiling after all that she’s been through — she’s a warrior,” she added as she gazed lovingly up at her sister cradled in her mother’s arms.
Charlie was born on July 1, 2014, missing the left side of her heart and her aorta is closed off. The family realized that the road to her recovery would be burdened with uncertainty, surgeries and treatment, but they remained hopeful and determined to do whatever they could to save their precious child.
Charlie underwent the first of three open-heart surgeries just seven days after she was born. During her second surgery, the infant was diagnosed with an irregular heart murmur and administered a pacemaker. She is scheduled to undergo her last surgery when she turns 3 years old.
“We are grateful to organizations like the American Heart Association, which help fund medical procedures that can build a future for our daughter,” Joslynn told Noozhawk.
Charlie is one of 4,000 infants born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, but one in every 100 children has a congenital heart defect.
“Congenital heart defects is the No. 1 killer of infants and children in America and it kills more then all the child cancers combined,” Joslynn said. “Yet it is the least funded and so, as a family, we have taken a stand to raise awareness and to share Charlie’s story.
“We want people to realize how serious this is and how many people are affected by it in order to find a cure, or in order to develop more medical procedures to ensure that our children have a bright future.”
Even though there has been a 29-percent decline in the rate of deaths due to cardiovascular diseases, it remains the top cause of death of Americans.
“The organization (American Heart Association) continues to educate the public about the dangers of heart disease and stroke, and strives to reduce deaths by 20 percent and improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20 percent by the year 2020,” said Dr. Michael Shenoda, board president of the AHA Central Coast and a Sansum Clinic cardiologist.
During the award presentation at the annual fundraiser, Dr. Joseph Aragon, also a Sansum Clinic cardiologist and AHA Central Coast immediate past board president, was honored for his years of service on the board. He was praised for commitment to heart health and to the community.
Aragon said he is optimistic about AHA Central Coast’s life-saving goals, which he emphasized can be reached with the help of supporters.
“In the current era, having donors like this will allow us to fund research that can perhaps get us closer to that goal,” he said. “Right now the American Heart Association is funding research in lipid management primary prevention, which is stopping the first event, and device therapy in such a way that we will be able to treat people without as an invasive a manner.”
The Santa Barbara Heart Beach Ball raised $170,000 for the “Healthy Futures” program that supports after-school programs with nutrition and health education. Some of the night’s funding will go toward critical research fighting cardiovascular disease and strokes.
Upcoming events benefiting AHA include the 2015 Santa Barbara Heart and Stroke 5K Walk/Run, which is scheduled for Sept. 26 and begins at The Fess Parker on the Santa Barbara waterfront. On Oct. 24, the Santa Maria Heart and Stroke Walk will kick off at Waller Park.
Click here for more information about the American Heart Association of Southern California Central Coast Division.
— Noozhawk iSociety columnist Melissa Walker can be reached at mwalker@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkSociety, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Become a fan of Noozhawk on Facebook.
