Two-month-old Finley Sloan got a special visit from her interventional cardiologist Dr. Aimee Liou last week when she walked into her room on the 15th floor of the Heart Center carrying a tiny red knit hat.
Liou, a self-taught knitter, made the hat herself in honor of National Heart Awareness Month and chose to give it to Finley, who has been a patient at Texas Children’s since she was born. The hat fit the little girl’s head perfectly.
“I am thrilled to be able to serve patients in this capacity,” Liou said. “To be able to show them kindness, compassion and warmth on top of giving them the best possible clinical care is really special.”
In addition to Liou, several other Texas Children’s staff and friends of the Heart Center crafted hats for patients in recognition of Heart Month, a time focused on heart health and the seriousness of cardiovascular disease, which claims the life of one person every 38 seconds in America.
Congenital heart defects are the most common form of cardiovascular disease in children and are the top congenital abnormality. Affecting one out of every 1,000 newborns, more than 35,000 babies in the United States are born with congenital heart defects each year.
To shine a light on these statistics and the work done at Texas Children’s to prevent and treat heart disease, almost 50 hats in various shades of red and pink have been handed out this month to patients of all ages at the Heart Center. Pediatric Cardiologist Dr. Judith Becker made close to 30 of the hats.
A long-time knitter and crocheter, Becker stopped her craft in the early 2000s because of carpal tunnel syndrome. She had corrective surgery in 2010 but was not motivated to pick up her needles again until this year when she learned about the effort to knit hats for patients at the Heart Center to highlight Heart Month.
“It was a great reason to get started again, and I had a great time,” Becker said. “It’s always nice to be able to do something extra for our patients.”
The patients who received the hats were extremely appreciative of the generous gesture. Finley and 8-year-old Stephanie Villafuerte, were all smiles after donning their new festive attire, and may others expressed their gratitude.
Both Liou and Becker said they hope the knitting circle continues to generate hats for patients treated at the Heart Center.
“I would like to see this continue,” Liou said. “It’s a great way to demonstrate our family-centered care.”
Interested in knitting a hat? Contact Laura Higgins at ext. 6-1981 or llhiggin@texaschildrens.org.
For more information on our Heart Center, click here.
