Sawyer is a sweet and social 4-year-old boy who loves animals, reading books, and being active. His parents describe him as being someone who lives life to the fullest.

Sawyer was born with a congenital heart defect called single atrioventricular valve canal defect (CAVC).

When Sawyer was 2 months old, he had his first open heart surgery for an AVL repair. He was sent home for 4 months but went into heart failure and was rushed to Portland to be placed on a ventilator.

On August 2, 2022, Sawyer had another surgery for heart valve replacement. Ten days after the surgery doctors discovered both sides of his heart were not working, causing heart failure, so Sawyer had a pacemaker installed.

Sawyer has had many complications since receiving the pacemaker. He has had several follow-ups, and even had a new pacemaker installed. However, his medical team is still not seeing the improvements needed, so he has been referred to Stanford Children’s Hospital for a possible heart transplant.

Sawyer is required to take several medications, including a high level of blood thinners. This causes a high risk of injury due to his inability to clot blood normally.

Sawyer has been such a brave child facing all these medical challenges. It has not been an easy thing, especially since he has extremely high anxiety towards all things medical. However, he is a fighter and continues to keep a smile on his face and enjoy life.

Sawyer will be adopted as the Sparrow to New Heights Christian School. New Heights students will work hard to earn money for Sawyer through sponsored community service.