When you donate to the ABC15 Telethon benefiting Phoenix Children’s Hospital, you will bringing hope and healing to kids who desperately need it -- kids like Treffen Rexius.
Now 10 years old, he likes to go by the nickname "T-Rex."
He was just a baby "T-Rex" when a routine check-up turned into his parents’ worst nightmare.
“There really wasn’t a sign of trouble,” says Treffen’s mother, Adrianne Rexius.
She had taken little Treffen, her third child, to the pediatrician after she thought he was having a hard time shaking a cold that had hit her whole family.
Her husband Brock says he will never forget the moment the doctor gave him the news that would change his son’s life forever. “She looked up at us and she said, ‘Your child is in congestive heart failure. You need to get to the hospital as soon as possible.’”
At just 10 months old, Treffen was rushed to Phoenix Children’s Hospital where he underwent open heart surgery.
His parents both still cry thinking about that moment. “I watched them wheel him away. That’s when you have to give up your child and you don’t know whether you’re going to see him again.”
Not only did Treffen make it, he is still thriving today.
More than 9 years after his first emergency visit to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Treffen has become familiar with the people who work at PCH.
He’s had three more open heart surgeries and four pacemaker surgeries.
He spent so much time at the hospital, he actually had to keep up with his studies at the hospital's "1 Darn Cool School."
You might think Treffen has been through enough and would be happy never to see Phoenix Children’s Hospital again.
But, you would be wrong.
Treffen says he looks forward to going back.
When we asked why, a tear came to his eye, and he said, “Because, I like the teachers, they care so much.”
You might not be a doctor or a nurse, but you can help kids just like Treffen, by donating to the ABC15 Telethon benefiting Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
The telethon runs from 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 12th on ABC15, or you can donate here on ABC15.com.
