The journey to mend his heart led

In mid-January, Brooke Bowles and Katie Hausman Grace from Birmingham’s Levite Jewish Community Center were joined by Billy Lapidus at Children’s of Alabama, to present a donation of over $10,300 from the 2022 Sam Lapidus Montclair Run, held on Thanksgiving. The check was accepted by Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Meredith Weintraub, who is an LJCC member, and other members of the Children’s team. Over the past 13 years, total donations from the Run and the Jam4Sam organized by Mesch AZA have amounted to more than $100,000. Proceeds benefit the Alabama Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders. A fixture at the LJCC, Sam Lapidus died in 2008, just before his 15th birthday, after a six-year battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma.

Qua was born with tricuspid atresia that required a series of open heart surgeries as an infant. But as a teen, his health took a dramatic turn. Qua’s pediatrician and cardiologist recognized something wasn’t right with his heart and sent him to Children’s of Alabama. Our team was standing by when he arrived by helicopter, and within two weeks he received a new heart. He rebounded quickly and was back at home a few weeks later, thanks to the expert heart team here at Children’s of Alabama.

Learn more at ChildrensAL.org/heart