From his mother:

When he was six weeks old we were told that Ryan had four major heart defects - he had Tranposition of the Great Arteries, a hole in his heart, a leaky mitral valve, and a Tricuspid valve leak. He had his first surgery at eight weeks of age (to put a band on his pulmonary artery). When Ryan was two years oldm he underwent a complex surgery called a Double Switch with a Senning Procedure. Doctors rerouted his arteries so that his right ventricle now pumped to his lungs and his left ventricle pumps to his body, which is the opposite of what a normal heart does. When Ryan was seven, he again had surgery to repair his mitral valve.

He had a cardiac catheterization in October 2004 and the doctors found that the leak in his tricuspid valve had worsened. The exercise stress test also showed that his heart exercise capacity had decreased by 70% over the past year. So Ryan had another surgery on April 27, 2005 to repair his tricuspid valve. In order to reach this valve, the surgeon had to put in a shunt which will allow the blood to flow to his lungs by bypassing his right ventricle. They also inserted a pacemaker to help Ryan's heart rhythm.

Ryan loves sports but is frustrated that he can not play because he gets too tired. He hopes to some day play in the neighborhood with the other kids and be able to participate again in gym class at school.

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