LOUISVILLE, Ky. — At 2-years-old, a Bardstown toddler has a lot to celebrate this week, a second chance at life. He's a boy named Rocky, whose journey has been just that, until now.
It was Thanksgiving day, when Rocky McKenna received the gift of a new heart. This week he got to go home and be reunited with his older brothers after 123 days in the hospital. It was a departure everyone on the floor took part in, a celebration worthy of a super hero.
At just five-months-old, Rocky was diagnosed with Left Ventricular Non-Compaction Cardiomyopathy (LVNC), a disease where the heart muscle isn't formed properly.
"Overtime, for some people, the left side of your heart gets big and dilated and doesn't squeeze as well as it should, which is what happened with Rocky," Dr. Sarah Wilkens, a cardiologist and medical director of Norton Children's Pediatric Heart Failure and Transplant Program said.
Rocky spent months at the Jennifer Lawrence Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit before he was sent home to wait for a new heart, and then it came. Just 12 days after a successful surgery, staff lined the halls to wish him well on his next adventure. Rocky's parents, Taylor Hughes and Chris McKenna, were both emotional and excited for a future outside the hospital walls.
"He's been through such long journey to get to this point," McKenna said. "It's just a miracle he was able to get the second chance at life with this new heart. It's amazing."
"It means everything to be able to go home, because we've only seen him go home sick and now we get to see him be healthy," Hughes said.
Rocky will continue to take medication and see a cardiologist for the rest of his life, but his doctors hope he'll continue to grow and thrive, just like any other boy his age.
Contact reporter Brooke Hasch at bhasch@whas11.com. Follow her on Twitter (@WHAS11Hasch) and Facebook.
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