By Isabella Kifer | Hollis Brookline News Wed, Oct 16, 2024
In 1958, Lori Lamphier was born with a rare heart condition known as tetralogy of Fallot. Four defects impaired her heart function and caused oxygen-poor blood to flow to her body. At that time, congenital heart defects, meaning structural defects in the heart present at birth, were not well researched and treatment was limited. Thankfully, Lori was born near Buffalo, NY, where two of the leading experts in cardiac surgery at the time were exploring new procedures. Lori was one of the first infants in the country to have her heart defect successfully treated with open heart surgery, saving her life.
Thirty years later, Lori had married her husband, Eric Ankerud, and continued to thrive due to good care throughout her life. However, congenital heart defects cannot be cured, only repaired. After Lori survived another open heart surgery, months of cardiac rehabilitation and two other operations, she and Eric realized that their life’s mission should be devoted to helping other CHD patients and in early 2019, they launched the Heartfelt Dreams Foundation.
The Heartfelt Dreams Foundation has two main goals: to provide assistance for congenital heart defect patients and their families, and to increase medical education surrounding congenital heart defects.
The Foundation helps patients in a variety of ways, including providing free transportation and hotel stays for medical appointments, as well as providing emotional support and other financial assistance. For medical providers, the Foundation offers a series of instructive webinars and educational scholarships to help improve patient care and treatment as well as overall medical education surrounding the condition.
Unlike many health issues or diseases that other charities support, there is no cure for congenital heart defects. Because of this, the main objective of Heartfelt Dreams is patient support, which usually means supporting a patient over their lifetime. In a recent interview, Eric said, “We try not to measure our impact by the number of people we’ve helped, but by the miles of free transportation and nights of free hotel stays we’ve provided.”
One of these patients helped was then thirteen-year-old Devynn Evans, born with a congenital heart defect. Devynn, a resident of Rochester, NH, was in need of a home blood testing machine when her grandfather heard an advertisement on the radio for the Heartfelt Dreams annual golf fundraiser. Devynn was about to face her third open heart surgery and her grandparents were having difficulty purchasing the blood-testing technology she needed in order to avoid visiting a lab every week. So, Devynn’s grandparents called Heartfelt Dreams in search of help. Eric responded, and after quickly offering the machine, his next question was, how else can we help?
Devynn was scheduled to have her heart surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital. Transportation was difficult for Devynn’s family, involving a mix of buses and trains and taking the T. So when they asked for help with that, Eric came through once again. The family was provided with a limousine ride to the hospital and a free room for Devynn’s grandparents to stay in during her surgery and recovery. After Devynn’s operation, Heartfelt Dreams even gave her a box of activities to keep busy, and provided counsel and emotional support the whole way.
Now fifteen, Devynn has recently started high school and is thriving. While many congenital heart defect patients are discouraged from physical exertion and activities can be somewhat limited, this does not describe Devynn in the least. She stays active with dancing, hiking, bike riding, and ice skating. She also enjoys art and fashion design.
When Devynn’s grandmother Beth was asked what she would say to other parents of a child with congenital heart defects, she said, “Keep calm, they’ve got everything under control – just call Eric”
The Heartfelt Dreams Foundation continues to support families and improve awareness and education about congenital heart defects and their treatments. To learn more or donate to the foundation, visit https://www.heartfeltdreamsfoundation.org
