When my 8 yr old son Matteo asked why he and his twin brother Dre were wearing red on February 11th, I told them about a friends loss of her nephew...the loss of a boy named Jesse Gatts, who was referred to as a "little heart warrior" due to his battle with CHD. Jesse was born with what is known as Transposition of the great arteries also know as Arterial Switch. Jesse has a twin brother who is perfectly healthy. Jesse was born blue and had open heart surgery on the day he was born and a total of 4 more open heart surgeries after that as well as multiple heart catheterizations during his 13 years of life. He was a fighter and you NEVER would have known that he had these issues. Matteo was so touched by his story that the next morning he asked how he could get his whole school to wear red to show their support. (If you know 8 year old boys, the fact that he remembered the next day was amazing.) So he is writing a letter to his principal and School District requesting that "Wear red for CHD" day be added to the school calendar on February 11th. I was so moved by his compassion that I am helping him make this happen. Please sign this petition to help Matteo and Dre Peirce bring awareness and support to their school in honor of those lost, still fighting and who have won the fight, because teaching our children compassion is just as important as math, reading and writing. Some facts about CHD.
Congenital heart defects are the #1 cause of birth defect related deaths. Congenital heart defects are the leading cause of all infant deaths in the United States. Each year approximately 40,000 babies are born in the United States with a congenital heart defect. Thousands of them will not reach their first birthday and thousands more die before they reach adulthood. Each year over 1,000,000 babies are born worldwide with a congenital heart defect. 100,000 of them will not live to see their first birthday and thousands more die before they reach adulthood.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and sign, please share so we can make this happen. Much love..