By Morgan Mengle, as part of our Strength and Spirit Series
My name is Morgan; Im from Pennsylvania and am now 21 years old. I was born with Tetralogy of Fallot. I was born at 33 weeks, tipping the scales at only 3 lbs., 9 ounces. So far, I have had four open heart surgeries, my last one in 2012, as well as 12-plus cardiac catheterizations.
Fast forward to 2019, and I am healthy as can be and in May will be a college graduate. My dream is to eventually work with children with CHD and their families in any capacity. I would love to work in a childrens hospital. I will be applying for graduate school very soon as well!
I developed these goals through my own struggle as a young student. Through my experiences, I grew to discover a passion and purpose for helping others through their own health challenges.
In 2013, I developed infective endocarditis. I never knew how I was ever going to make it through that. I was in the hospital for a month and out of school for half a year, missing my second season of basketball entirely. I was also put on 24 medications at that time. You truly never know how strong you are until its your only choice.❤️
In 2015, I was a junior in high school, and it was a requirement to do a senior project in order to graduate. This could include volunteering your time, making something for the community, holding a food or toy drive, anything to give back to others. I decided to hold an all-day benefit raising awareness for CHD, and in organizing this event my passion for helping others grew. We made banners, flyers, T-shirts, etc., for the benefit and motorcycle run held at a local motorcycle club.
All the money raised went to the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia and the hospitals research center. The fundraiser turned into a really big deal in my small hometown, Weatherly, Pennsylvania. I had set a goal for myself to raise $5,000 total from the benefit and the motorcycle run. At the end of the day, we ended up raising more than $20,000! I was so amazed. Everyone was asking if it was going to become an annual thing.
I went to the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia and was able to present the check to them for that amount. Im so glad that I got to do something like this to give back to a hospital that saved my life. Im so grateful for my experiences and my health and am excited to continue to help others like me.
Leave a Reply