Brielle

Meet our newest hero, Brielle. She is the bravest girl you’ll ever meet... among other things.

She has the strongest faith in God, LOVES to read, and is also a total Potterhead just like all of us at Team Hutch… she’s obviously a Gryffindor ❤️🦁

When we first met her, her hospital room was completely decked out in Harry Potter trinkets, merch, and legos—it was like walking into Hogwarts. We had the best time connecting with Brielle over our shared love for magic 🪄

Brielle's mantra is: 

GOD'S GOT THIS

Brielle's Story:

Brielle was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) and underwent a series of three palliative open heart surgeries by the time she turned two. In spring of 2022, twelve years and several additional diagnosis later, we learned that her heart was failing and she would need a heart transplant. She received the incredible gift of a new heart in October of 2023. While her initial recovery was remarkable, she very quickly developed multiple types of rejection, requiring her to remain in the hospital for six weeks for treatment.

Six months later she was admitted again for what we thought would be a short admission for a virus. After an exhaustive workup we were shocked to learn she had developed another rare but serious complication of transplant called PTLD or Post Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder. Thankfully, it was caught early and nine weeks later, just after her 16th birthday, she was able to come home. She will continue to be monitored closely for quite a while but is improving and getting stronger everyday.

Despite dealing with countless medical appointments and diagnosis her entire life, Brielle is one of the most kind, caring and joyful young ladies you will ever meet. Her faith in God and the plan he has for her life is truly inspiring. She is rarely without a smile on her face and has the ability to find the silver lining in any situation.

Over the years, Brielle has benefitted from the child life specialists at the hospital and plans to become a child life specialist herself. She has always felt a calling to help others whenever she can. Even when given the difficult news of the PTLD diagnosis, her response was to think about how she can use it to bring courage and comfort to other patients. She believes God is allowing her to go through all this so that when she is a Child Life Specialist one day, she will be able to relate to and help even more children.

She loves all things Harry Potter and has become well known for it at the hospital where her room is usually filled with an assortment of Harry Potter lego sets she has built among other decorations. She also loves to read, do various crafts, play with her little cousins, hang out with her friends, and play golf.

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Brielle reminds us to find the magic even in the hardest of times. That's why she is our hero. 

 Please consider donating to our Hutch Heroes foundation or purchasing some of our online merchandise to help support our amazing heroes like Brielle 😇

Love Always,

Team Hutch