This evening, Dateline NBC will broadcast "Against All Odds," a one-hour program devoted to the story of one family whose five children all have signs of the same heart disease, dilated cardiomyopathy. The Bingham family of North Powder, Oregon, first came to Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in 2006, when their oldest daughter, Sierra, needed a heart transplant. A press release from Packard Children's describes what happened after Sierra's successful transplant:
"When Sierra received her heart transplant in 2006," recalled dad Jason, "we thought that was the end of it." But in spring 2012, Lindsey became sick with symptoms eerily similar to Sierra’s, and the Children’s Heart Center then discovered all the kids had developed heart issues over time. Lindsey was placed on the heart transplant list, and received a Berlin Heart bridge-to-transplant device on July 1, the same day brother Gage was implanted with a pacemaker. And after months of living in the hospital while the Berlin Heart kept her stabilized, when did Lindsey receive her donor heart? On Valentine’s Day of this year.
The Dateline program chronicles many milestones of the year-plus the Binghams spent living at the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford for their kids' treatment, including the moment Lindsey learned that a new heart was waiting for her, the Valentine's Day transplant and the family's recent reunion with their friends and family in Oregon. Tune in at 8 p.m. Eastern Time/7 p.m. Central Time and keep your box of tissues handy.
Previously: One family - and five children with the same serious heart disease, Pediatric patients on the Trick-or-Treat Trail
Photo by The Family Album Project
