Children's Heart Foundation hosts Congenital Heart Walk to raise awareness for newborns with heart defects

GILBERT, Ariz. - The Children's Heart Foundation will host its first Congenital Heart Walk in Gilbert this Saturday. 

According to the CDC, heart defects are the most common types of birth defects. 

Heart defects heavily impact local families

"My baby's name is Daphne. She lived for nine days and she had multiple heart defects, one of them being hypoplastic left heart syndrome," says Vanessa Orhuela. 

Her most recent pregnancy wasn't like the last three. 

Several tests led to results she could never imagine. 

"They took me into this room and they told me that my baby would most likely not make it home. So they told me that either I could terminate or go forward. Move forward with the pregnancy," she said.

Vanessa delivered Daphne on Dec. 14, 2022, but within an hour of being born Daphne needed an emergency procedure. 

A few days later, doctors had to put her in a medically induced coma. 

"On Monday, all the doctors would get together and figure out a part of a solution to move forward with her case," she said. "The doctors gathered together and they said that there was nothing they could do for her." 

That's when Vanessa had to make the hardest decision of her life. She took Daphne off life support. 

"I don't want another family to have to go through what we've been through with no explanation, just you were handed this and there's nothing," Orhuela said. 

Her daughter's short life is the reason she will speak at the first Congenital Heart Walk in Gilbert with her family by her side. 

"This walk is important to me because people need to know about it. People need to know that your baby can just be born with a defect and there's nothing that you could have done to prevent it," she said.

The Children's Heart Foundation is working to fund more research

The Children's Heart Foundation is hosting 33 Congenital Heart Walks across the country, all dedicated to funding congenital heart defect research. 

"Walk day is community of people that understand and are walking together either honoring the warriors that are here with us, or remembering the sweet angels that have gone," said Megan Riddle of the Children's Heart Foundation.

The walk will be held Saturday, Sept. 21 at Gilbert Regional Park starting at 8:30am.