Amun Joenathan Walkine was born May 24, 2016 with a congenital heart defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome aka HLHS. HLHS is a severe congenital defect where the left side of the heart that provides oxygen to the body doesn't fully develop. In our case, we found out about Amun's condition at 20 weeks utero, during a gender reveal ultrasound appointment. From the time of the revealing ultrasound to his scheduled birth, we seen several specialist who confirmed his condition and advised he would need 3 major surgeries before the age of two, with the first one needed immediately after birth. As we got closer to his delivery date, we were advised that his Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) was too small for them to perform the first surgery and his life expectancy was only 4 hours. But God had other plans.
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After 48 hours in the hospital and no explanation as to why he was still breathing. The hospital gave us the option to allow Amun to stay in the NICU until he transitioned or go home with hospice care. We choose to take him home. After being home for 8 weeks, Amun started showing signs that his life was ending and although that was expected, I couldn't watch my son die. We rushed him to a nearby ER where he was airlifted to a pediatric hospital to have emergency surgery. The excessive fluid from his heart was flooding his lungs, causing him to drown from the inside. The surgery was quick and he was able to come home a fews after the surgery but it was made clear that in order for him remain living, he needed to start the surgeries ASAP.  Before leaving the hospital, we agreed to bringing him back in two weeks to have the Norwood procedure and we did. 
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Amun went into the surgery happy, with his light skin tone and came out blue and incubated. His left lung collapsed and never recovered. After three months of tests and procedures, Amun was well enough to come back home with the assistance of heart medications and continuous oxygen. From November to May, we were able to enjoy Amun and watch him do things the doctors said could not be done. He learned how to sit up on his own, drink from a bottle, hold his bottle, and be a toddler. 
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May 27, 2017 we celebrated his first birthday with a mickey mouse theme party at the park. During the party Amun was very lethargic. For most of the party, he laid in my arms, only lifting his head to sing happy birthday. It was clear that he wasn't feeling well, so we left the party early. As soon as we got in the car, he went to sleep and stayed sleep for quite a while. While he was slept his oxygen was measuring lower than his normal and did not change even while being on the highest output level. We took him to a nearby ER and they transported him back to the Children's Hospital, that performed his surgery. 

During his stay at the hospital, we were informed that his heart was failing. The doctors tried different measures to strengthen his heart and preserve his life a little longer but nothing worked. On June 21st, 2017 Amun took his last breathe and departed from us. 

Long Live My Little Bear
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