Meet Champion, Izzy

At six months old, Izzy began struggling to breathe during feedings. Taken to the local emergency room, she was airlifted to Penn State Health Children’s Hospital, where she went into cardiac arrest. After seven minutes of CPR, she was revived and placed on ECMO. Doctors discovered an enlarged left ventricle and a congenital heart defect called Anomalous Left Coronary Artery from the Pulmonary Artery (ALCAPA). Less than 24 hours later, she underwent life-saving open-heart surgery and spent a month in the pediatric intensive care unit before going home on Christmas Eve. Years later, Izzy returned to the hospital with a severe infection that caused a mycotic aneurysm, seizure, and hemorrhage, requiring emergency brain surgery. Throughout her care, programs like Child Life, music therapy, and art therapy brought comfort and joy. Now thriving, Izzy loves dancing, playing with Barbies, and going to school. Her resilience, bravery, and joyful spirit continue to inspire everyone who knows her.