Open Your Heart for Dr Mani's Heart Kids Tweet-a-thon

Today Dr Mani Sivasubramanian is holding a 24 hours Heart Kids Tweet-a-thon to raise the awareness of Cogenital Heart Disease (CHD) and also to raise $36,000 to fund 12 surgeries or save the lives of 12 children.

Dr Mani's story is a remarkable and inspiring story. Often we see what we perceive as injustices in life and many think that we are powerless to do anything about it and so we do nothing. Dr Mani is not such a person.

His MISSION in life is to help prevent children from dying needlessly and he has made himself a promise:

"Anything...ANYTHING that is within my power to prevent it happening, I will do."
Dr Mani Sivasubramanian

Today's Tweet-a-thon is a small example of his commitment to enhance the quality of life for children and, in some cases, to give back to children the gift of life itself.

Here are a few facts about heart disease in infants and children:

~ CHD differs from other heart defects in that it is present from birth.

~ According to the American Heart Association, heart defects accounted for 31.4% of all birth defect related deaths in 1992

~ CHD is the #1 birth defect with more occurrences than Spina Bifida, Down syndrome or hearing loss.

~ Congenital heart defects may produce symptoms at birth, during childhood and sometimes not until adulthood.

~ At least 35 distinct forms of congenital heart disease are recognized.

~ 32,000 babies with CHD are born in the US every year.

~ 38% of children born with CHD will have had one or more surgical procedures.

~ Out of every 1,000 births, at least eight babies are born with a heart or circulatory condition and only about a quarter of these are detected by ultrasounds.

~ Congenital heart defects are responsible for half of all deaths from birth defects in children under the age of one.

~ Before the 1960s, when open-heart surgery wasn't carried out on children, many who had CHD died in infancy.

Here's a link to a webpage with details of different ways in which you can support this campaign.

http://www.chdinfo.com/tweetathon.htm

However, if you can think of additional ways to support this cause please do so. Your support is greatly appreciated.

And remember:

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do."
Helen Keller