First-time triumph

Leah Crawford wasn’t expecting any surprises with her second pregnancy. But her routine 20-week ultrasound, which is a comprehensive anatomy scan to evaluate fetal development, revealed that her unborn child, Liam, had not one but two heart issues.

Crawford was referred to pediatric cardiologist Khushboo Parikh, MD, of Nemours Children’s Health, who confirmed the abnormal findings just weeks later.

Along with a hypoplastic (undersized) aorta, which is the main artery that carries oxygenated blood out of the heart to the rest of the body, Liam also had a hole in his heart, known as a ventricular septal defect (VSD). A common congenital (present at birth) heart defect, the VSD allows oxygen-rich blood to move back into the lungs instead of being pumped to the rest of the body, requiring the heart to work harder to circulate blood.

Babies with a medium or large VSD may need surgery early in life to prevent complications.

“We were told he may need multiple heart surgeries during the first year of his life, so it was a lot to process,” said Crawford.

Uncovering a rare condition

Despite the prognosis, Liam weighed a healthy 6 pounds, 6 ounces, when he was born at Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville in September 2025.

To keep an eye on the VSD and see if closing it was going to affect the growth of the aorta, Liam was admitted to the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) at Wolfson Children’s Hospital.

While in the CVICU, an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) revealed that Liam had developed a rare condition known as coarctation of the aorta (CoA), which occurs when a segment of the aorta is narrowed or constricted. CoA can cause high blood pressure in the upper part of the body or low blood pressure in the lower part of the body. It can also cause heart failure. Surgery is often scheduled upon diagnosis to prevent long-term complications.

Bulking up for surgery

While in the CVICU, Liam was administered additional feeding in preparation for his open-heart surgery.

While Leah rarely left her son’s side during his hospitalization in the Borowy Family Children’s Critical Care Tower, her husband, Shawn, an inpatient wound care nurse at Baptist Health, was able to stay home with their 3-year-old daughter, thanks to donated paid time off from a variety of his team members.

“Even though it was a stressful situation, we felt as lucky as we could because the hospital facilities were amazing and accommodating for parents,” Crawford added.

Praising his providers

Liam’s heart surgery occurred 18 days after birth and was performed by Sara Elena Mendoza Crespo, MD, a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon with Nemours Children’s Health, and assisted by Dennis Wells, MD, chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Nemours Children’s.

During the procedure, known as an end-to-end anastomosis, Dr. Mendoza removed the narrowed segment of the aorta and then sewed the healthy ends back together, establishing normal blood flow through the artery. During the coarctation repair, she surgically closed the VSD with a synthetic patch over the defect.

“As a result, Liam only needed the one surgery,” said Crawford. “Dr. Parikh did a wonderful job of explaining what Dr. Mendoza was going to do, and she also kept us in good spirits throughout the process. We can’t say enough great things about them.”

Dr. Mendoza said Liam’s successful outcome “is a reflection of early diagnosis in fetal life and a timely surgery involving a multidisciplinary team.”

Eight days after his heart surgery, Liam was discharged from the hospital with a feeding tube for short-term nutritional support. By his 4-month checkup, he weighed more than 14 pounds with noticeable gains in head growth and overall body length.

“He’s growing so fast, you’d never know he was a heart baby unless you saw his scar,” Crawford said.

Tugging at the heartstrings

Since his heart surgery, Liam has been attending physical and occupational therapy sessions at Wolfson Children’s Rehabilitation-Drew Bradbury Center, where he works on his motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

Shawn Crawford said it takes a village of support to pull off the life-saving care that his son received at Wolfson Children’s.

“Liam’s recovery has been nothing short of amazing. We had a lot of people praying for us,” he said. “They told us he may not need another heart surgery and, I’ll admit, hearing that made me cry.”

Said his wife, “We didn’t feel the need to go anywhere else but Wolfson Children’s. We’re fortunate to have who we had on our case.”

Together, Wolfson Children’s Hospital and Nemours Children’s Health offer a full range of services for pediatric cardiovascular conditions. To learn more, call 904.697.4300 or visit wolfsonchildrens.com/heart.