Ruf Family
Meet the Ruf family! Dan and Kelli were thrilled when the found out they would welcome their fourth child, Claire, into their family. They learned her journey would look a little different when a routine ultrasound determined Claire had a condition called heterotaxy syndrome. It is a rare birth defect that affects the left-right asymmetry of the body’s visceral organs. It causes these organs to be missing, misplaced, malformed, or multiplied. Although Claire’s darling smile and twinkling eyes don’t reveal it, her little body battled abnormalities in many organs including her lungs and stomach, and most significantly her heart. Claire was born with eight major heart defects and at just seven hours old had a miraculous life saving stent procedure.
Claire was able to spend the first few months of life at home with many appointments, therapies, and a close watch from doctors. In November 2022 she spent four weeks at Primary Children’s Hospital after going into respiratory failure following a routine procedure. Claire's was able to be transferred to the care of world-renowned doctors at Boston's Children Hospital in February 2023. After a complex heart surgery, Claire battled for six weeks in Boston before completing her journey on earth and returning to her Heavenly home.
To show our love and support for Claire and her family, Walli donated the net profit from one day of sales to the Ruf family to help cover the cost of Claire’s surgeries.