Living Life to the Fullest
October 21, 2020
Johnny was born with a heart defect. When he was 8, he developed an infection that required open heart surgery. His parents trusted his care to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital.
“It was a pretty intense and scary thing,” said his dad, John, but Johnny came through surgery successfully. “They gave me my boy back.”
Today, Johnny lives the full life of a regular teenager, playing sports and even running Tour de Broward every year with his surgeon, Frank Scholl, MD, Chief, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Heart Institute.
“It’s the reason why we do what we do, is to get kids back to their families,” said Dr. Scholl.
Johnny plans to be a paramedic someday, so he can pay it forward and care for others the way the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital team took care of him.
“To see him flourishing, what better evidence of what a hospital can do for a family, for a child,” dad said.
Johnny's Heart Surgery Survivor Story
