LAWTON, Okla_He was born
with half a heart, it's called hypoplastic left heart syndrome, but you'd never
know it by looking at 9 month old Jonathan Rigdon. Thirty years ago there were
no HLHS survivors but that's not the case anymore. Even with the latest medical
treatment it's still scary for his parents who wonder if a cold, is just a
cold, or if it's a sign that something has gone terribly wrong.
Jonathan's dad,
Sergeant Michael Rigdon is stationed at Fort Sill.
He and his wife Candice already have two girls, and during a routine ultrasound
they were excited to find out the gender of their third child. They were hoping
for a boy and were elated when they discovered he was on the way. Minutes later
a doctor walked in with devastating news.
There's
something wrong with your baby's heart.
Candice began
to cry, wondering if her son would live. The day Jonathan was brought into this
world Candice got to hold her newborn baby boy for all of 60 seconds.
"You're
thinking is this the only time I'll ever see him alive? But I was happy because
a lot of the heart moms said they didn't ever get to hold their baby in the
first place so I gave him a kiss and I said be strong."
Be strong,
maybe Candice uttered those words because she used to be in the Army, perhaps
she was talking to herself. She had to be strong, she was in a different
hospital, and wouldn't see Jonathan until three days had passed.
"He was so
little and he's hooked up to all these machines and tubes and he couldn't move because
they had to sedate him so he didn't mix up the wires and stuff, but every time
I walked into the room, and it wasn't necessarily because I was just sad I was
overwhelmed. I had a lot of hope for him and it's just so hard to see a little
baby like that."
Michael keeps
things inside most of the time, but not always.
"I didn't
get to hold him at all until right before his first surgery it was the first
time I got to hold him so that was really cool. I cherish that moment because
you didn't know if it was going to be the last and the first time you know that
you ever hold your kid."
He's a dad, but
he's also a soldier.
"I had
been strong up until that point and then it was like D-Day, OK guys we're
getting ready to do it and it was pretty shaky."
After the surgery
he went outside and wept tears of joy, and relief. On Saturday, the Combat Veterans
Motorcycle Association will bring more relief, donating a heart monitor.
"Because
he's not in a critical condition they don't just automatically give you one. I
was like they don't even know us and they contacted us and they're like look
let us help you what can we do?"
The monitor is
important because Jonathan goes to Children's Medical
Center in Dallas for treatment. Now they'll know when
they need to take that long trip or when a quick trip to the pediatrician is
all that's needed. Just nine months old, Jonathan won't remember what has
happened, mom and dad will never forget. And once more the Combat Veterans Motorcycle
Association in Lawton
does what they say they do, veterans helping veterans.
