Monday, November 29, 2010

Thank you Funky Heart

Steve Catoe, a 44-year old tricuspid atresia survivor, avid advocate for congenital heart disease, and giver of hope to so many families, passed away today. Here is an email he wrote to Luke back in February of 2009:

Hi, Luke!

Just a quick note to see how you are doing and to say hi! I live wayyyyyy over here in South Carolina ... get your dad to show you SC on a map!

I'm 42 and have a single ventricle just like you do! We're pretty special, not everybody gets to be a Cardiac Kid! And what's even better, I know a *lot* of grown ups with heart defects - we aren't rare anymore!

But you gotta take care of yourself first - keep your heart strong so it can keep on going! So get outside and play! And drop by my blog any time you want to!

Steve

Thank you, Steve, for all the encouragement shared, knowledge passed and good done for the CHD community. Thank you for showing your scars and showing other families that life with a funky heart is a good life indeed.

6 comments:

  1. how very sweet. Makes me so sad.
    God Bless him and Luke.
    Happy Holidays

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  2. I am crying reading that email to Luke. Steve was amazing and loved all our little warriors. He is going to be so missed.

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  3. A very sad day indeed learning of Steve's passing. I will miss him terribly!

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  4. Beautifully said, Steve did show us that life with a funky heart is a good life. Such a sweet email to Luke. Gosh, I am going to miss him.

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  5. We will all miss Steve terribly. He gave so much to the heart community!

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  6. I was sooo sad to read of his passing yesterday- figured it out through your post actually. Thanks for sharing it. He will be missed. Loved reading his posts daily, he had so much knowledge on CHD and funny stories too. I copied you and posted a letter her wrote to us. Thought that was a great idea and wanted to "archive" it, what a better way than through the blog.

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