Alice Dorothy Menze was born with a critical congenital heart defect (CHD) called Truncus Arteriosus on April 1, 2022, a tiny but mighty 4 lbs 3 oz. Over the course of the next 2.5 weeks, Alice survived several scares, and on April 19, 2022, she underwent the most complex level of open heart surgery that the hospital performs. While her heart repair itself was considered successful, she spent the next 3 weeks overcoming many obstacles and setbacks following complications from the surgery, and on May 10, 2022, Alice passed away in the loving embrace of her parents, who were comforted knowing that Alice had put up an amazing fight and had defied many odds to spend as much time with them as she did.

Despite 40 days of intense treatments, being poked and prodded constantly for her various leads and lines, Alice also received an enormous amount of love in her too short life. Her parents spent almost every waking minute, in addition to every single night with her in her hospital room, and she was able to meet her proud 2 year old big brother, Clifford, as well as her grandparents, 1 great-aunt, 5 aunts, 1 uncle, and her cousin, Owen, who shares a birthday with her, born only about 90 minutes after Alice. Alice won the admiration of the providers and staff of the CCU, and had the support of a vast network of family and friends who were rooting for her. While her time on Earth was limited, Alice’s spirit and legacy will live on through the actions of her family and friends to advocate for CHD research and awareness.

Will you join us? By supporting our team or joining us in our walk, you're supporting research that will help save and improve the lives of babies born, and children and adults living, with CHDs. Thank you!