Meet Shaun

In January 2023, Rayshawn and Michelle welcomed their son Shaun to the world. His birth felt like a small miracle, as the Cleveland couple had been told having children of their own would be difficult.

Shaun was a happy, active baby, so when he started sleeping more and laughing less, his parents took notice. He also started vomiting, but since he had just started eating solid foods, Rayshawn and Michelle thought he might have a feeding issue. Despite trying many different foods, Shaun couldn’t keep anything down.

Rayshawn and Michelle took him to their local emergency department. Shaun’s condition continued to decline. He swelled up, struggled to breathe and couldn’t stay awake. While Rayshawn was holding him, Shaun’s heart suddenly stopped. Doctors revived him, but this traumatic moment marked the beginning of the family’s health journey.

The intensive care unit team told Rayshawn and Michelle that Shaun’s heart was enlarged and weakened on one side. After two months of inpatient care, Shaun was stable enough to be sent home with a dozen prescriptions. Rayshawn and Michelle struggled with his complex medication regimen and worried about him constantly.

While the prescriptions helped for a time, Shaun took a bad turn on Thanksgiving 2023. Rayshawn and Michelle rushed him to the emergency room again, where they experienced horrible déjà vu: Shaun’s heart stopped again and he was revived again. But this time, his doctors recommended that he go to Nationwide Children’s as soon as possible. Shaun was transferred by ambulance on Black Friday.

Cardiologist Deipanjan Nandi, MD, told the family that Shaun needed a heart transplant. In the meantime, he needed a ventricular assist device (VAD), which would be connected to his heart and help pump blood throughout his body. On Sunday, Shaun had surgery. His parents were startled; the VAD was a bulky machine with lots of tubes. But it was giving him time to wait for a heart and to work on growing strong enough for such a life-changing surgery.

For the next seven months, the family lived at Nationwide Children’s, far from Cleveland, the only home they had ever known. Rayshawn and Michelle celebrated Shaun’s first Christmas, his first steps, his first birthday and even their wedding anniversary in the hospital. They were there for his therapy appointments, his feedings and his playtime. Shaun’s team was there for their son, too. “So supportive, so committed. Days when we would be down and out, they’ll come in smiling, keeping everything positive,” Rayshawn said. “It was just amazing how active and engaged they kept him.”

Finally, they got a call from the transplant team. They had a match! Despite being so young, Shaun seemed to know something special was happening and went to surgery with a smile. Ten hours later, the tubes tethering him to the ventricular assist device were gone. Shaun had a new heart. His parents could pick him up and hug him with no medical devices in the way.

Since going home — to their new house in Columbus, where they would always be close to their clinical team — Shaun has been joyfully experiencing life as a toddler. Rayshawn and Michelle are so grateful to Nationwide Children’s.