Six-and-a-half-year-old Mattias Hoegler has undergone 15 surgeries, of which 12 occurred before his second birthday. The little fighter was born with just half a functioning heart due to aortic stenosis and damaged left heart chambers.
His first of three open-heart surgeries happened when he was only three and a half years old.
The blue-eyed Steveston boy continues to need procedures/surgeries to keep up the blood flow to his lungs, and might need another heart transplant in his teens
His parents, Darren Hoegler and Hege Bolthof Hoegler, credit BC Childrens Hospital for keeping their son alive.
Over the years Mattias has spent days, weeks and months at BC Childrens Hospital at times, said his mom. And there have been times where the doctors were not sure if he would make it through.
But he has shown great strength, and is truly a miracle in our eyes. He is a very outgoing and lovely boy, and has made close relationships with some of his many doctors and nurses over the years. One of them, Thérèse Trabelsi, he even called Oma (grandma, since she was Dutch).
The hospital counts on corporate and individual donors as well as government funding to offer the care it provides for the provinces sickest children, such as Mattias, said Stephen Forgacs, director of communications at BC Childrens Hospital Foundation (BCCHF). We are committed to give the hospital at least $14 million a year, all of which comes from individual and corporate donors.
One BCCHF corporate donor is Richmonds Kirmac Collision, on Horseshoe Way. Last year, its Kirmac Cares for Kids campaign raised $120,000 for BCCHF. The program donates a percentage of earned income from every repair. Kirmac Cares for Kids donated $152,041 to the BCCHF during the BC Childrens Hospitals 25th annual Miracle Weekend, on June 3rd.
When thinking of how we could give back to the community, family values played a large part and so giving back to the kids, especially those in need of medical care, and helping their families, is something Kirmac is passionate about, said its president Ian McIntosh.
In the meantime, Mattias, who loves to draw flags, looks forward to starting Grade 2 at Lord Byng elementary this fall.
