Erin O’Rourke

Erin was 4 days old when she was sent to Riley. Her blood wasn't exiting her heart the right way. When Erin arrived by ambulance, because the weather was too bad to be airlifted from Ft. Wayne, the medical staff had to perform CPR to revive her. So at 11 days old, Erin had her first open heart surgery. Erin had her second open heart surgery at 7 months old, third and fourth at 3 years old, and her last one was on the last day of Kindergarten. She has 2 holes closed, a membrane removed around the mitral valve, a ban put around her pulmonary artery, and the extra tissue around the aortic valve removed twice. She is currently on medication to help extend the time between the next surgery. Hopefully once she is fully grown, the surgeries will no longer be needed. Erin loves going to the dance marathon and raising money for Riley, also spending time with all the dancers.