North Texas 2-year-old with heart defect defies the odds
NORTH TEXAS - February is American Hearth Month, a time to not only raise awareness about the importance of cardiovascular health but to also celebrate the strength of North Texas' littlest heart warriors.
Franklin Braggs, a two-year-old who lives in Princeton, keeps defying the odds.
He was diagnosed in utero with a ventricular septal heart defect, which causes children to have a 'hole' between the lower heart chambers.
Franklin's parents were told to expect the worst.
"And as a first-time mom, I'm like how do you prepare yourself for your baby not making it?" said his mother, Thai Braggs.
Franklin ultimately survived and went on to have his first open-heart surgery at four months old.
"They say your heart is about the size of your fist, and I'm just imagining his fist, so small," Braggs said. "It gets to you. That environment. You're there feeling hopeless."
Franklin's pediatric cardiologist at Children's Health, Dr. Collin Kane, says heart conditions in kids aren't as rare as people think.
Every year, about one in 100 babies are born with a congenital heart defect in the United States, according to the CDC.
"Some of those are very simple," said Dr. Kane, who is also an associate professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center. "Some may require one surgery to basically cure that child, but others, like Franklin's case, are really complex."
Franklin has had three successful surgeries to repair the defect.
"Probably before his third birthday, he'll have four open heart surgeries, and I'm like, he's so strong," said Braggs. "It gives me strength just looking at him and seeing him go because I'm like how do you do it?"
The boy who once needed a feeding tube to survive now loves mac 'n' cheese and chicken nuggets. Extensive physical therapy helped Franklin start moving, and he hasn't stopped since.
"He's that normal two-year-old," Briggs said. "I never would have thought that this is where we'd be today. He's doing great. Yes, we still have a road to go, but he's doing wonderful. He's happy. He's doing great. And that makes me happy."
Braggs says we can all learn from Franklin's resiliency.
"You may be in the hospital right now or struggling with surgeries, whatever the case may be, but it's not forever," she said. "This is at that moment in your journey where you'll sit back and look, I did not see myself here."
The Braggs family now has hope and excitement for Franklin's future, which includes starting preschool in the fall.
Dr. Kane says parents should get their children evaluated if they have any concerns about their cardiovascular health, especially since some heart conditions can go unnoticed for years.
Symptoms to look out for:
- A heart murmur
- A pounding heart or heart palpitations
- Chest pain with physical activity
- Fainting/getting dizzy in the middle of physical activity
- High blood pressure
- Elevated cholesterol levels
- Gray or blue color of the skin, lips or fingernails
- Trouble breathing or fast breathing