On the eve of Halloween, ghosts and goblins were the furthest from Drs. Jeff and Ellen Kempf’s minds. Instead, they were focused on the children of Haiti. The husband-and-wife duo opened their home to host a gathering in honor of Dr. Jacqueline Gautier, CEO of St. Damien Pediatric Hospital and president of the Haitian Pediatric […]
A mission with heart: Day 3 in Haiti
A group of Akron Children’s doctors, nurses and staff travel regularly to Haiti to help care for the sick children at St. Damien Pediatric Hospital. This post is the last of a 3-part series by Dr. Grace Smith, who gives a first-person account of her most recent medical mission trip there. Read Part 1 and […]
Transplanting a pediatric cardiology program to Haiti takes team effort
For the past 2 years, children have been leaving Haiti – 2 at a time a few times a year – to come to Akron Children’s to have their heart defects repaired. But for each of these life-saving procedures we have performed, there are hundreds of children back in Haiti waiting for their turn. In many cases, time runs out.
Baby Jackson battles against the odds with heart (Video)
Jackson Straits has defied the odds. Diagnosed with non-immune fetal hydrops at 27 weeks gestation, this often fatal form of prenatal heart failure caused Jackson to develop fluid around his heart. Strong family faith along with the care of 3 Akron Children’s specialists came together to give him the best chance at life.
My son can offer hope for others with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome
March 15 is the 4-year anniversary of my son’s RF ablation surgery performed by Dr. John Clark to fix his congenital WPW (Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome). My son, Dakota Dunwiddie, was diagnosed when he was 1 month old. He is now 16 and consistently has a grade point average of 4.0, or close to it. He is very […]
My “Every Day Hero” Dr. John Clark
My “every day hero” is my cardiologist Dr. John Clark. I chose this amazing hero because he saved my life!
