He was only ten days old, and tiny Colin Light had already successfully tackled two open-heart surgeries. The operations marked the end of a difficult medical and emotional journey for Matt Light and his family. At just 22 weeks gestation their baby was diagnosed with a complex heart defect, transposition of the great arteries (TGA). In TGA, the aorta and pulmonary artery are reversed - the aorta is connected to the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery is connected to the left ventricle. This results in only unoxygenated blood being pumped to the brain and body. For the next three months Children's Hospital Boston implemented a multi-disciplinary healthcare plan for Susie Light and her unborn son that included 3D-echocardiography, a sophisticated, non-invasive, ultrasound imagining technique used to identify complex heart defects. Using this technology, doctors were able to routinely monitor the baby's cardiovascular development and coordinate his delivery and immediate surgery. Today, barring unexpected complications, 6-month-old Colin Light is expected to have a normal lifespan.
On Tuesday, Oct. 11, The Light Foundation will make one of its largest donations to Dr. Gerald Marx, senior associate in Cardiology at Children's Hospital Boston for his research in prenatal diagnosis using specialized echocardiography. The Lights credit the early diagnosis of their son's heart defect using 3D-echocardiography to saving his life.
In 2001, New England Patriots football player Matt Light and his father, William, established the Light Foundation. Both father and son agreed that the foundation's mission would be based on "better living through giving." The foundation has held a number of fundraising events and has given away substantial financial donations to youth charities and inner-city organizations in both New England and Matt's home state of Ohio.
The Light Foundations check presentation will take place at Children's Hospital Boston, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA., Patient Entertainment Center (PEC).
*Children's Hospital Boston is the nation's premier pediatric medical center. Founded in 1869 as a 20-bed hospital for children, today it is a 325-bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care grounded in the values of excellence in patient care and sensitivity to the complex needs and diversity of children and families. More than 100 outpatient specialty clinics are located at Children's. Children's Hospital Boston is the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, home to the world's leading pediatric research enterprise, and the largest provider of health care to the children of Massachusetts. For more information about the hospital visit: www.childrenshospital.org. *
