McGuire Family — Sullivan's Story

3-year-old Sullivan is the epitome of a Heart Warrior. She was born with Tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart defect, and she underwent two open-heart surgeries before her 1st birthday.

Children’s renowned Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Dr. Subhadra Shashidaran, performed both open-heart surgeries for Sullivan one at age 3.5-months-old and one at 10-months-old. As a result of her congenital heart condition, Sullivan will require additional cardiac surgeries in the future and ongoing medical care throughout her life. On multiple occasions, Sullivan fell ill with various respiratory viruses that she was unable to fight due to her weakened condition. Because of this, the McGuire Family had several week-long stays in the Michael P. Fisher CICU.

Sullivan was also diagnosed with DiGeorge Syndrome, which is a genetic disorder often associated with heart abnormalities. This has caused Sullivan to experience a range of development delays, such as delays with speech and feeding. Through it all, Sullivan is a determined 3-year-old and is working extremely hard to overcome every obstacle. She attends speech therapy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy for up to 10 hours a week while also attending pre-school.

She continues to make great progress and she is nearly fluent in sign language. Nothing brings her more joy than her big sisters, swimming, Peppa the Pig, Bluey, and riding the school bus. Her infectious smile and positive attitude can light up the darkest the rooms.

Aside from Sullivan’s journey with Children’s, her mom, Madelyn McGuire, has spent her entire career as a Children’s nurse. Madelyn dedicates her workdays to making kids better today and healthier tomorrow. She aspires to provide patients at Children’s with the same love and attention that Sullivan received from Madelyn’s colleagues.

“Words will never do it justice, and the McGuires are forever grateful to everyone at Children’s: doctors, nurses, support staff, fellow patient families, and all the people who donate time, energy, and money to Children’s so that families like ours can watch our child grow and thrive!” — Kevin McGuire, Cox Family Office