The Charli Anna Foundation Story
Charli Anna, Emily's little sister, was born on Feb. 13, 2008 at St. Luke's Hospital. The 9 lb. 6 oz. (23 in. long) baby girl was delivered by c-section and soon afterwards, the doctors realized she had a congenital heart defect called Transposition of the Great Arteries. Also, she had a few holes in her heart which were instrumental in keeping her alive at birth. Within a couple of hours, she was in a helicopter flying to St. Louis Children's Hospital. She was placed in the Cardiac ICU and had open heart surgery to repair the defect on Feb. 18. The surgery was long and even more extensive than the doctors anticipated because they had to fix one of the holes in her heart with a device that will eventually grow into the tissue. A few weeks after surgery, she went into cardiac arrest multiple times in the same day, which led to her being put on ECMO (life support). 3 days later, she came off ECMO and began to recover well. She made it to a regular room, but had trouble with drainage throughout her body. This drainage has caused her to need help breathing, so she was sent back to the CICU and had a breathing tube once again. She fought hard and lived through many infections, but on July 28, 2008, she died of sepsis from a mold infection in her effusions (drainage). Her family misses her badly, but has started a foundation in her honor, the Charli Anna Foundation. This group identifies families of children enduring long-term hospital stays and helps them with housing/hotel stays, food certificates, and spiritual aid. This is Charli Anna's legacy! We miss you sweet girl! You can log onto her foundation site at www.charliannafoundation.org or go to www.caringbridge.org password:babycharli. To find out more about this foundation's coming events, keep checking for updates on THIS PAGE!!!
