WINONA LAKE – Gabi Silor was born with a congenital heart defect and has had two open heart surgeries.
Silor, 20, Warsaw, a 2009 Warsaw Community High School graduate, was born with the heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot.
She was born with two holes in her heart, she had an extra artery that was forming a ring around her trachea, branching in her aorta, and her pulmonary heart valve did not develop properly.
Her first heart surgery was in 1991 when she was 5 months old at National Children’s Medical Center, Washington, D.C.
Her second heart surgery was in 2008 at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital of the University of Toledo Heart Center, Ann Arbor, Mich., when she was a junior in high school.
She is able to manage her condition with medication and sees doctors at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, Lutheran Hospital and the University of Toledo Heart Center.
She will most likely have operations every 10 to 15 years to replace her heart valve.
She now has a bovine heart valve that replaces the pulmonary valve in her heart.
She will participate in a heart walk put on by the American Heart Association titled “Warsaw’s Start Heart Walk.”
Her team consists of family and friends, and is titled “Heart Strong: Team Gabi.” Silor will speak prior to the walk, and is encouraging others to register for the walk.
She said she is involved in a congenital heart disease Facebook group and she became friends with a woman whose daughter died from heart disease.
Her friend, who lives in Alabama, posted information about the walk that was being held in her town. Silor went to a link and discovered there will be a walk in Winona Lake.
The walk is to raise funds for the association that assists in heart disease research.
The walk is Sept. 17 in Winona Lake Park. On-site registration begins at 8:30 a.m. The one- and three-mile walk course begins at 9 a.m.
Silor will speak before the walk about her heart disease battle, and Kosciusko Community Hospital will lead in warm ups before the race.
She is a nursing student in her junior year at the University of Saint Francis and plans to become a pediatric nurse practitioner, specializing in pediatric cardiology.
Her parents are Deborah Silor, Warsaw, and David and Jana Silor, Claypool.
Hacienda held a benefit in August to raise funds for Silor’s walk team.
Heart Walks are the association’s largest fundraising event, raising money for research, education and community programs in the fight against heart disease and stroke.
“Cardiovascular diseases remain the number one killer of Hoosiers, claiming more than 18,000 lives every year,” said Rick Mylin, chair of the Warsaw Heart Walk.
“This is an opportunity to celebrate all that has been done to save lives and to make a difference for those who are still affected.”
In the last five years, the American Heart Association has funded more than $9 million in new research projects at universities in Indiana.
The walk is free. Walkers are encouraged to register online at www.warsawindianaheartwalk.org and raise money for the event.
People who have questions can contact walk director Ann Acosta at 260-704-0900 or ann.acosta@heart.org
