13-year-old Tampa boy diagnosed with heart disease requires emergency transplant

tampa, florida – April is National Saving Life Month across the United States, and more than 5,000 people, including infants, are currently waiting for life-saving organs in Florida.

For the family of 13-year-old Tampa resident Victor Cruz, the fight can’t come soon enough. His family discovered last week that he has a rare heart disease and is now in urgent need of a heart transplant.

“He’s very happy. He’s running around and playing. He’s just like any other 13-year-old now,” said his sister Louise Cruz.

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Victor just celebrated his 13th birthday on March 16th. Louise said he seemed happy and healthy, but after a few days everything changed.

“He was throwing up. He couldn’t keep anything in his body. Maybe about 30 minutes after he ate, he just threw up,” she said. “He wasn’t feeling well. He was very quiet, very calm. That’s not always the case. He’s very awake, active, and playing.”

The next day, his mother took him to the doctor and was told to go to the hospital. They immediately began testing and discovered that he had fluid in his abdomen, which was caused by a heart condition he didn’t know he had called “dilated cardiomyopathy.”

“His heart rate was in the 140s and he was just laying there,” Louise said. “He wasn’t even moving around. They were like, ‘His heart is working too hard.'” His mind is stressed. ”

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At that time, he was taken by helicopter to University Health Shands Children’s Hospital in Gainesville. He is currently on a ventilator and heavily sedated as he and his family desperately wait for a compatible donor to receive a heart transplant.

“It could be a week, it could be days, it could be months, it could be years just waiting for him to get on the list,” Louise said.

Until then, there is a device that doctors can place on his heart so he can leave the hospital and wait in the comfort of his home until a compatible donor is found, but for now doctors are keeping him in the hospital. Her sister said she was keeping an eye on her.

Finding a match for a 13-year-old heart from a deceased donor is not as easy as finding an adult donor. This is because child deaths account for only about 2% of all deaths. Louise said she is praying with her family and hoping for a miracle.

“That would mean everything to all of us, because we love him so much and obviously we want the best for him, but he can’t do much. We haven’t had a chance. You know, he’s only 13. He’s got a lot more to do,” she said.

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