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Walk ambassador steps forward
© St. Petersburg Times Maddie Grace Price didn't gain much weight in the past 12 months, but she shot upward like a weed. Maybe it was the broccoli, which she eats without threat, though like any other 2-year-old she would rather have a slice of daddy's birthday cake. As the growth spurt stretched the platinum blond's fair skin, a birthmark on the back of her left leg took on a different shape. Maddie's preschool teacher noticed that what had been a circle developed a small cleavage and now is shaped like a tiny heart. When you think about Maddie, you think of hearts -- mainly the one inside her little chest that beats only by miracle. But you also consider your own heart when she hugs your neck or laughs out loud or sings a song. It warms and breaks at the same time. On Saturday morning, Maddie once again led hundreds of folks, including survivors of heart disease, on a walk to raise money and awareness for the American Heart Association. This one was for the Hernando and Pasco associations, and she also will be the ambassador for the Heart Walk on Nov. 2 at Pasco Regional Medical Center in Dade City. The association chose Maddie because she personifies its mission -- and because she wouldn't be here today without the advances in medical technology paid for in large part by the associa tion's fundraising. I visited Maddie a year ago at her home in Palm Harbor and was captured by her spirit and that of her family and friends. It was my pleasure to return last week. * * * "Maddie, what do you want for lunch?" asked her mother, Melanie Price, who had just bragged that her little girl looooves broccoli. "Caaaaaake!" she squealed. Daddy, Craig Price, turned 39 last week, and Maddie knew the leftovers were in the refrigerator. How difficult it must be not to give Maddie whatever she wants. Even if she weren't so doggone cute, she has been through so much. And though doctors assure the family that she could live to be an old lady, she faces more open heart surgery. "We're getting better at discipline," said Mrs. Price, a regional manager for Bank of America in New Port Richey. "One thing we're trying to do is not load her up on the material things. People want to give her everything." By now, Maddie should have undergone surgery to replace a pulmonary valve that was transplanted into her shortly after she was born on April 11, 2000. As she grows, she will need larger valves. But doctors at Tampa Children's Hospital at St. Joseph's recently detected a problem that has delayed their course of action. Maddie's aortic valve is leaking blood and might need to be replaced. If so, then doctors want to do both transplants at the same time. The family has an appointment on Nov. 22 to determine a course of action. Maddie's first pulmonary valve came from a child in the Chicago area who had died suddenly, but doctors are considering artificial valves now. "She is in such good hands," Mrs. Price said, "and there is no question we will do whatever the doctors say. This technology is the direct result of the research that comes because of the money raised by the American Heart Association." Maddie has made several visits this year to Tampa Children's Hospital, including one in September for the dedication of the new $4.2-million Gary S. Haas Pediatric Care Unit. Haas was the surgeon who saved Maddie's life. Only four months later, he was killed in a traffic accident. Dr. Elsa Suh is Maddie's cardiologist. "She and the other doctors have been amazed that Maddie is as active as she is," her mother said, "but it's because her other organs are so strong. She had no shutdown of organs that is typical of so many other heart babies." Maddie's energy keeps grandmother Carmen Bancroft jumping. "Ninky" lives nearby and visits every day. Bancroft has seven grandchildren, and Maddie is the only girl. "She's the princess," said Bancroft, who raised $1,600 for the Heart Walk by asking friends and neighbors for small pledges. Maddie's other grandmother in the area, Sharon Price, gathered her Gulf Harbors neighbors for similar pledges. We'll keep you informed about Maddie Grace Price, who puts such a fresh face on the campaign to combat heart disease. It is my fervent hope to someday let her write her own story with emphasis on the happy ending.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
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