Miss Scotland Clark

Today we want to celebrate a brave little girl who managed to pack lots of life into her 8 years. You will want to read the full story. Miss Scotland Clark was born with a heart defect requiring open heart surgery. She left the hospital and went on for the next 6 years unchecked by her heart function. However, her heart started showing signs of failure. On September 24, 2014 her heart went into an abnormal rhythm that lead to ventricular fibrillation and eventually cardiac arrest. Attempts to restart her heart were unsuccessful.

I (Mason) learned about the events of that day during a phone conversation with Scotland's mom (we both work at A.T. Still University). During the talk we realized The Clarks and the Vanns have a lot in common. Both Jackson and Scotland were born with heart defects. Both of our kids were treated in the cardiac unit at St. Louis Children's. Both of our kids had the same surgeon. Jackson even stayed in the exact same room that Scotland used during her hospitalization! And the last thing is my favorite. Scotland and I share the same birthday, January 9. I couldn't be happier to share the spot with her today.

Scotland's parents started The Scotland Clark Project to support families caring for sick children. Actually the phone conversation I mentioned earlier was a call from Scotland's mom on behalf of the foundation. They wanted to send support to help with Jackson.

Please take a moment to check out their website. Also, if you are able, consider giving a donation through the links at the top of their page.

http://www.scotlandclarkproject.org