The Real Faces of Heart Disease: Coker's Story

In the past week, a really amazing thing has happened. Since The Big Hearts Fund was mentioned on dooce.com last Wednesday, I have received e-mails from people all over the United States that want to connect with us because they have dogs or cats with heart disease. I would like to share some of their stories with you. Today we begin with Coker and his human sister Mary Clare.

The story goes something like this (you can also read the original version on Coker and Mary Clare’s mom’s blog, found here): Kerri and her two daughters were cruising along in their golf cart one day. The next thing they know, a furry wet bundle (Coker!) came running out of the woods and up to them, jumping into their cart. Kerri did everything she could to try to find the owner of this Golden Retriever mix puppy with a short tail, including calling the local Humane Society, calling every vet in the area, and calling all of the neighbors. When nobody claimed her and the girls became attached (Mary Clare called her ‘Fuzzy’), it became obvious that Coker was to be a part of their family, and they took her to the vet to make it official.

It is at this point that this story becomes miraculous. Mary Clare, Kerri’s younger daughter, was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome in utero and has had three open-heart surgeries in her short four years of life. So Kerri was already very familiar with cardiac terminology when the vet told her: “You have a special needs puppy here.” Kerri’s vet told her that Coker had a very loud murmur, indicative of a serious congenital heart defect. They took Coker to a specialist, and are currently setting aside money for her care and possible future surgery. In fact, on Mary Clare’s fourth birthday this past June, they asked for donations towards Coker’s future surgery.

Coker’s mom Kerri wrote to us with no clear idea of where to turn next. BHF was able to help Kerri find some resources in her area where she may be able to obtain an echocardiogram for Coker in order to determine a specific diagnosis. We hope that our resources and information pages will also be of use to them as they learn how to care for Coker, their special heart puppy. Even though Coker’s diagnosis and future are unclear right now, one thing is very, very clear: Coker (literally!) jumped right into the perfect family.