Blue lips, curly hair, blue fingertips, always tired, big brown eyes ... these are just a few words that describe Steven. His deep affection for his mother was obvious. Their intense closeness was partly due to the fact that Steven rarely left her side. Playing with friends or running in the backyard were not options for him as just the smallest amount of exertion caused Steven to turn blue and faint. This was due to his serious and untreated congenital heart condition which prevented a sufficient amount of oxygen to flow through his heart and into his lungs.

His mother said one of his greatest dreams was to run around and play on the playground with his cousins. Such a simple dream. And thanks to St. Louis Children's Hospital and Dr. Charles Huddleston's collaboration with HTC, this dream has come true. Steven's open-heart surgery was a great success and after seven weeks in St. Louis, he returned to El Salvador to a large, loving extended family, ready to embrace their new cousin who could now play, run, swing and soon go to school with them for the first time!