Hunters First Birthday-A Cause for Celebration!

Friends and Family...we are proud to post this letter that we wrote to support Hunter and those who helped him make it to his first birthday!

On December 3, 2009 our lives were forever changed. It was this day at a routine ultrasound that we learned that our unborn son had a Congenital Heart Defect of some kind. The uncertainty of the outcome was incredibly painful and gut-wrenching. The “is this really happening” feelings were overwhelming.

The remaining 20 weeks of what should have been a celebrated event were instead, anxious, depressing, sad and painful. Rather than experiencing the exciting anticipation of having our second child, we spent countless hours under ultrasound with our pediatric cardiologist trying to identify the issue and ultimately create a treatment plan to repair it. We tried not to lose focus of the fact that we were delivering a son and that our beautiful daughter would soon have a brother.

When we first learned of Hunter’s defect we did what any concerned parents would do, we called every prominent children’s hospital in the country to find out if there was somewhere better we could take our son, somewhere that was more specialized in heart defects. The answers we received were incredibly reassuring. After learning that we live near The Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel the responses were the same, “The place to go is in your own backyard.” We found every bit of this to be true.

On April 19, 2010 Hunter Todd Riley Harnish miraculously made it to full-term and surprised us all that his birth weight was well above the projections; this was integral in preparing him for what no child should have to endure. Within 36 hours of birth, Hunter had an eight-hour open heart surgery at The Children’s Hospital.

He healed in the Pediatric ICU for two weeks, much of the time so full of paralytics he could hardly blink and was unable to be held. One of the earliest memories of our son is seeing him hooked to countless machines with monitors, wires, and drain tubes coming out of every part of him and his chest wide open for three days post-surgery, “just in case” and due to swelling. Whether we liked it our not, our son’s journey had begun and we were going to be there to help him. The official diagnosis is that Hunter has the rare Shones Syndrome (which means there are multiple heart abnormalities in the left heart) and three ventricle septal defects; we narrowly missed a life filled with medical challenges.

After his successful surgery and a faster than expected recovery, and now one year removed, we cannot be more thrilled to celebrate Hunter’s first birthday. Hunter has a cardiologist for life; from our regular visits we have learned that the treatment plan chosen was the correct plan…Dr. King and Dr. John (Hunter’s surgeon) chose the correct route. This has resulted in the left side of Hunter’s heart having grown appropriately and it has now caught up with the right side. His heart function is nearly perfect, and while there remains an outside chance that some day he may require a “tune up,” there seems to be no need for any further surgery in the short term. Hunter is growing rapidly and shows no ill effects of his troubled beginnings. We feel like life is back to normal and we now look forward, not backward. We feel blessed and every day we recognize that not only are we lucky, but God does truly answer prayer.

Ironically, Hunter’s first birthday coincides with the building of a brand new, state-of-the-art children’s hospital on the Legacy Emanuel campus. No longer will The Children’s Hospital be two cramped floors at Emanuel Medical Center. The good people whom we refer to as “angels”, the doctors, nurses and staff, will have what they need the most: more space to treat more children.

We feel like we owe our lives to The Children’s Hospital. That is why we are asking our friends, families and those who were, or may be touched by our son’s journey to please find it in their hearts to help celebrate his success by making a donation to the new Children’s Hospital in Hunter’s name so that other children can see their first birthdays. A gift in any amount will be gratefully received and truly make a difference.

We thank so many of you who have supported us and have invested in Hunter’s first year of life. We cannot say enough about the community we live in.

With gratitude,

The Harnish Family
Justin, Megan, Stella and Hunter

P.S. Our family, through the Harnish Properties Children’s Heart Fund, will match the first $10,000 donated in honor of Hunter.


To make a tax deductible and secure gift online please visit:

hunterharnish.com