Messiah Strong
On April 30, 2017, Messiah Mackie-Morgan was brought into this world. Born with congenital heart disease, Messiah had multiple defects such as Double-Outlet Right Ventricle (DORV), Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), and Interrupted Aortic Arch. Only a few days old, Messiah has already been through more than most people will ever go through in their lifetime.
At 5 days old Messiah had to have his first open heart surgery called the Norwood procedure. It’s a delicate procedure that is usually done in three stages. 3 months after the procedure and in the NICU as well as rehabilitation, Messiah started to excel.
At just 10 months old, in February of 2018, Messiah went for his second stage of the Norwood. During the surgery, Doctors attempted to do the Rastelli to relieve pulmonary obstruction in double outlet right ventricle (DORV) with pulmonary stenosis. Unfortunately, the patches used for the Rastelli continued to slip off the VSD which happened to cause doctors to add an additional surgery making it 4 in total for Messiah in only two months (February and March).
Doctors then added Pulmonary Artery (PA) bands to help with the blood flow but it actually turned out to cause Messiah aneurysms in his little heart. As if Messiah hasn’t been through enough, it seemed as if it wouldn’t be getting any better.
The newly acquired aneurysms caused Messiah to be rushed into another surgery in May 2018. Doctors decided to conduct the Glenn procedure at this time. Things took another bad turn after that procedure when Messiah went into heart failure. Messiah was now put on the list for a new heart.
After 60 days of waiting for a new heart and yet still finding the strength to power through and stay tough, the new heart finally arrived. Doctors were able to successfully place the transplanted heart in August of 2018.
October 16, 2018 – Messiah passed away due to organ failure and exhaustion from 6 open heart surgeries. Just 49 days after his heart transplant. His Mother Chappy was with him every day so that Messiah was never alone. Messiah was stronger than anyone you could imagine. Messiah is missed and loved by everyone he met, especially his family.
We have a saying at the Never Miss a Beat Foundation and it is “Heart Surgery isn’t for the weak”. And while many people might argue that his heart was weak, therefore the reason why Messiah needed the surgeries, it’s pretty hard to say that a one-year-old who went through six open-heart surgeries isn’t as strong as they come. Fly high Messiah.
