“She’s my Taylor.”

With a vibrant personality and a smile that can brighten any room, Taylor’s personality certainly stands out.

She loves being outdoors, spending time with family, making TikTok videos, and cheering on the Mountaineers.

It would seem like there’s nothing that can stop Taylor – not Down syndrome or even multiple open-heart surgeries.

A Born Warrior

Taylor was born with atrioventricular (AV) canal, which means there were holes in her heart.

“They wanted to ship us off to Cincinnati or somewhere,” Garnett, Taylor’s mom, said. “I said, ‘No, we’re going to Morgantown. That’s where the best is.’ And that’s where we came.”

The WVU Medicine Children’s team repaired Taylor’s AV canal defect when she was six months old.

“I was terrified that I wouldn’t be able to hold my girl again,” Garnett remembered.

Taylor recovered well, and less than a year later, she had a second surgery to repair a subaortic membrane, which is like scar tissue that forms in the heart.

Doctors told her mom it would be a four-week recovery, but Taylor proved she was a fighter and went home in two weeks.

But more surgeries were in Taylor’s future. The Heart Center team completed a third successful open-heart surgery and Taylor continued to defy the odds.

Meeting Dr. Mascio

Taylor continued to grow and thrive.

She became a teenager who enjoyed kayaking, fishing, and taking a ride on her four-wheeler.

But as adulthood came closer, so did the need for a fourth open-heart surgery. That’s when she met Christopher Mascio, MD, executive director of the WVU Medicine Children’s Heart Center.

“He’s super nice,” Taylor said. “I love him.”

By this time, Taylor’s aortic valve wasn’t functioning properly, and Garnett was given the option of putting her on blood thinners for life or scheduling a fourth surgery. “I’m not going to hold her down and keep her from living,” Garnett said. “She’s a kid. She’s always going to be a kid.”

After consulting with Dr. Mascio, they agreed that surgery was the best option for Taylor.

“This was her fourth operation, so the fourth time opening the sternum can be challenging,” Mascio explained. “The heart and blood vessels can stick to the back of the sternum, and there’s a risk involved just getting in and getting everything dissected out properly, so you don’t injure a coronary artery.”

The surgery was long. Mascio and the team had to stop Taylor’s heart to replace the valve.

Garnett remembered this time more vividly than the other surgeries in Taylor’s life. She also recalls the team keeping her comfortable and calm as she waited for hours.

“When he (Mascio) was explaining the procedure, he didn’t just explain it to me,” Garnett recalled. “He explained it to Taylor and made sure Taylor was okay and that she understood that she was going to be okay.”

Once again, to no one’s surprise, Taylor had a smooth recovery and went home sooner than expected.

Comprehensive Care into Adulthood

The WVU Medicine Children’s Heart Center provides comprehensive care from before a child is born all the way through adulthood, allowing the care team to follow their patient’s progress.

Taylor remains under the care of the team and is thriving.

“This is like my hometown,” she said about visiting the hospital. “They’ve been there for me. I know the staff here. They make me happy.”

Although she will see a pediatric cardiologist for the rest of her life, getting to those appointments became much easier.

WVU Medicine Children’s now has a pediatric cardiology clinic in Huntington, which means Garnett only has to drive Taylor 30 minutes instead of three-and-a-half hours. Mascio says that’s the Heart Center’s goal with all patients.

“The idea is to have the patients come here for tertiary or quaternary open-heart surgery, cardiac catheterization intervention, or cardiac MRI, whatever that may be,” he explained. “But her follow up can be close to home.”

No matter where their appointments are, there’s one thing that makes Garnett happy she chose WVU Medicine Children’s.

“They treat us like family,” she said. “It’s a caring place, and you feel like home here. It’s a second home.”

Saving a Life and a Lifetime

As the home of West Virginia’s most advanced heart care, WVU Medicine Children’s is the only hospital in the state that does open-heart surgery, has a catheterization lab, and electrophysiology laboratory for pediatric patients with rhythm problems. It’s this state-of-the art care that brings families to the hospital, but it’s the team members that Taylor’s family say make the true difference.

“We love him,” Garnett said of Mascio. “Taylor’s always so happy to see him. She thanks him every time.”

Garnett said she believes that for the WVU Medicine Children’s team, caring for kids is more than a job. It’s a mission they truly care about.

“One of my mentors said when you help save a kid’s life you save a lifetime,” Mascio said. “We’re trying to give these patients and their families as close to normal an existence in life as we can. They can run around on playgrounds and participate in sports, some of them, and go to high school and college. Most of these kids do quite well and function at a really high level.”

As for Taylor, she’s now 23 and enjoying every second of her lifetime, thanks to WVU Medicine Children’s.

“I’m not stopping her,” Garnett said. “I’m going to let her be Taylor. She has more personality than 100 people. She’s fun. She’s my Taylor.”