Hello, My name is Ms. French! I am a 5th grade teacher at Paul E Culley and the school's Heart Hero Ambassador. As someone who has had heart surgery I know what it takes to keep my heart healthy and strong. My story started at the age of 2 days old! I was born a perfectly healthy baby who turned blue over night. On December 7th of 1995 I was rushed to the UCLA hospital to undergo a 15 hour procedure. 8 of those hours were used just to open the sternum! Three of my valves had exploded and my aorta was clogged. I was not pumping enough healthy blood into my body and to my brain. The doctors explained to my parents that this procedure had never been done before on someone as young as I was. The odds were stacked against me but I pushed through and came out the other end. I had a follow up surgery in March of 1996 for the final touches of my heart. To this day I live my life with a heart murmur. I have no restrictions when it comes to my heart and activities!
I’m participating in my school’s Kids Heart Challenge and raising funds to help everyone have healthy hearts. I’m also learning things like how to keep my own heart, brain and lungs strong, how to save a life with Hands-Only CPR, the warning signs of a stroke and ways to de-stress.
