Summit Mom Sells Shirts To Support Son Who Needs Heart Surgery

SUMMIT, NJ — Summit resident Melissa Acosta's son, Matthias, 3, will be undergoing open-heart surgery in Philadelphia in May, and she's raising money to cover costs while the family temporarily relocates there.

"He is a true miracle," Acosta said.

She said that although Matthias, who was born with heart defects, has had various surgeries already, "This time around will be harder, as he is 3 years old and understands everything. But we know God has big plans for him, and he will rock this surgery and be back home sooner then expected."

Acosta said that four years ago, while she was pregnant with Matthias, she received a poor prognosis, until she was referred to a specialty hospital.

"Matthias was born with heterotaxy — right-sided stomach, mid-line liver, no spleen and congenital heart defects," she explained. "He had his first open-heart surgery at 7 months old. While pregnant we were told he wasn’t going to thrive until we were referred to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he was been given a lot of life, and we are extremely thankful for."

In order to survive, Matthias has to go back to CHOP.

"We are starting to see signs that it’s time to have another repair in his heart called Fontan," she said. "He has to have a catheterization and MRI done by the end of April, and if everything goes well, we will go in for surgery middle of May. We will have to relocate to Philly for all of his procedures. CHD has taught us to live one day at a time and that’s what we will do."

Acosta said that dealing with congenital heart defects in a toddler can be difficult.

"One day he is great," she said. "We don’t know about tomorrow. CHD [congenital heart defects] is not fair. CHD does not have a cure."

Because of the expenses of living in Philadelphia, including rent, gas, and food, "We will be selling shirts to, one, support Matthias in his new journey, and two, get some expenses covered."

She said, "He is a strong, big boy, superhero as he calls himself. If it’s in your heart to purchase a shirt and help Matthias is this new journey, we would really appreciate it."

Acosta, who has lived in Summit since 2021, explains more about Matthais' journey and gives details on ordering a "heart warrior" shirt on this social media page. One can also donate via the links on the page.

Find out more information here.

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