Gabriel Santana

Gabriel was born in São Paulo Brazil in 1988 with hypoplastic right, single ventricle, ventricular septal defect and a heart murmur. At first the doctors thought Gabriel only had a heart murmur and sent him home. After almost a year Gabriel’s condition worsened as he developed pneumonia and started experiencing fluid in the sac around his heart.

Doctors then diagnosed his heart condition and he went into the care of Dr. Egito at Osptal do Corasão (Hospital of Hearts) in São Paulo. He spent majority of his first five years in the hospital having his first surgery at only 1 year of age and then another at 2. After the age of 5 Gabriel was able to start having a more normal life. Then at the age of 21 he left his country and traveled to Las Vegas to seek out better medical care. In 2011 he had his 3rd heart surgery.

Gabe is now 27 years old and just been diagnosed with protein myopathy, so his story is far from over.