Meet Olivia, daughter of UHS employee Stacy Baranski and this year’s Southern Tier Heart Walk honoree

The Southern Tier Heart Walk is almost here! Team UHS is once again proud to be participating in this annual event being held on Sunday, April 27 at the Oakdale Commons.

Each year, the American Heart Association selects one area resident as the Heart Walk honoree. This year’s honoree is Olivia Reynolds, who needed emergent open heart surgery when she was 13 days old, and is now a thriving 5-year-old. Olivia is the daughter of Stacy Baranski, lymphedema therapist at UHS Binghamton General Hospital. We are proud to share this amazing story featuring a member of the UHS family!

Olivia was born on June 4, 2019 at UHS Wilson Medical Center. That night, Olivia was resting in the nursery when a nurse noticed she was turning blue, and she was then rushed to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

After several tests, it was determined that Olivia had a transposition of the great arteries with a ventricular septal defect (VSD) and was in need of both immediate emergency surgery and an open heart surgery in the near future.

That morning, Olivia was transported to Syracuse and had a balloon atrial septostomy, which allowed her blood to mix so that she was getting oxygen to her body until the open heart procedure. Olivia then had her arterial switch operation in Rochester on June 17, 2019.

Today, Olivia is a happy and healthy 5-year-old girl. She currently attends kindergarten, plays soccer, and plans to play lacrosse in the spring. She has an annual echocardiogram and follow-up with her cardiologist to check how her heart is developing after the surgery. So far, her VSD has closed, and her cardiology check-ups have been positive.

“We are excited to have the opportunity to support and represent the AHA for this year's heart walk. This cause is very near and dear to our hearts and any advocacy to further advance medical care and research to improve heart health for any age is vital,” Stacy shared.

Stacy is forever grateful for the attentive care of the Wilson staff and immediate access to the NICU, all of which were instrumental in Olivia’s life-saving care.

“Congenital heart defects affect 1 in 100 babies annually—we are grateful that the medical field is as advanced as it is in order to treat little Miss Olivia and many other children like her. Please consider walking in this year's heart walk to support this organization!”

Team UHS walkers are welcome to join or form any Heart Walk team, including joining Team Olivia or making a donation by to her team by clicking here. Your contributions help fund life-saving cardiac research - which in turn helps patients like Olivia!