Hole in his Heart: A Mother's Strength and a Miracle Baby

MILWAUKEE — In just a few weeks, young Ephraim Slutzkin will see his second birthday.

Avi and Gabrielle Slutzkin's baby was born with a hole in his heart, and when doctors made the initial diagnosis, they were amazed he was alive.

“I’ll put it in the words of the anesthesiologist. What he said was that Ephraim has written his own manual,” Avi told the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle in April of this year. “We have no reference to his extreme condition. He continues to and will continue to defy all of medical literature.”

The Chronicle interviewed the couple, and Gabrielle reflected upon suddenly being called upon to be the mother of a child with special needs:

“It’s just a very overwhelming feeling,” she said in an interview with the Chronicle, noting there’s no “central person” to advise you on what to do when you’re unexpectedly called upon to raise a special needs child, a boy who has grown too slowly, born with a hole in his heart.

Read more about this couple's journey on the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle online, including the story of how they met, and how they have come to learn how to support their youngest - one heartbeat at a time.

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