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Eight out of every 1,000 babies born in the United States have a congenital (present at birth) heart defect - a problem that occurred as the baby's heart was developing during pregnancy, before the baby is born. Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defects.

My name is Ryan Edrick Burton, and I Was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart syndrome. When I was 5 days old, I had open heart surgery  at UCSF.  Prior to my surgery My mommy and daddy were told that I would have to have 3 differnet surgeries. One when I was 5 days old, the second when I was about 3 months old, and the 3rd when I was about 6 years old. Fortunately for me, the doctors at the hospital decided before my surgery, to give me one more chest x-ray. After viewing the x-ray, my doctors noticed that due to a hole that I had in my heart, it was actually, slowly but surely, releasing blood to the left side of my heart, which was great becasue I started to grow muscle on the left side of my heart.  So now the surgical plans have changed, and the surgeon and his tean of doctors, were only going to attempt to perform only one risky surgery.  My open heart surgery took over more then 7 hours,  and i was given a new life.  I had a double ventricle repair, arch reconstruction becasuse my aorta was pretty much non existant, and the hole that i mentioned earlier was patched.  I left the hospital 11 days after my surgey with a big scar down my chest, a few scars on my tummy from my draining tubes, a scar on my hip, which my diaper covers, and one one my foot from my pic line. 

My cardiologist at Kaiser, Dr. Desai, mentioned to my Mommy and Daddy about a summer camp that was desigend for children with Congenital Heart disease.

Camp Taylor was desigend to give children and their families a weekend full of fun and enjoyment. At camp, the children are able to meet and play with other kids who also have heart disease.  Campers are surrounded by children and families with similar life experiences. 

Being able to see your child as well as other children who have been through the same experience smile and have fun, truely brings joy to your heart. At camp, you experience this all day long. Not one child feels different from the next. " Kids meet, scars blend, wonders happen". (Camp Taylor website)

Please help by donating to Camp Taylor; it is truely a wonderful organization.