The Balfour Family

De'Andre Balfour was born on November 12, 1996. At birth he was diagnosed with pulmonary tricuspid atresia.

Tricuspid atresia is a form of congenital heart disease whereby there is a complete absence of the tricuspid valve. Therefore, there is an absence of right atrioventricular connection. This leads to a hypoplastic or an absence of the right ventricle. This defect is contracted during prenatal development, when the heart does not finish developing. It causes the heart to be unable to properly oxygenate the rest of the blood in the body. Because of this, the body does not have enough oxygen to live, and steps must be taken to keep the child alive. Because of the lack of an A-V connection, an atrial septal defect (ASD) must be present to maintain blood flow. Also, since there is a lack of a right ventricle there must be a way to pump blood into the pulmonary arteries, and this is accomplished by a ventricular septal defect (VSD).

Blood is mixed in the left atrium. Because the only way the pulmonary circulation receives blood is through the VSD, a patent ductus arteriosus is usually also formed to increase pulmonary flow.

In De'Andre's short life he has endured FIVE open heart surgeries and the last being from a medical error. He was precribed Dilantin which he had a severe reaction to and was forced to undergo emergency surgery and outfited with a pacemaker.

De'Andre is a military child. His father Irvin Balfour is serving in the United States Army as an E4 specialist. The family was recently re-located to Fort McPhearson in Georgia. This move proved to be a huge benefit for De'Andre because he is now under the care of Dr. Peter Fischbach of The Sibley Heart Center in Atlanta, Ga. (404-256-2593)

De'Andre is surrounded by love from his father Irvin, his mother Deidre, and his brothers LeRon and Irvin Jr. The Balfour family proudly boast Honor Roll honors from all three of their sons. This feat is especially poignant considering that despite the many days De'Andre has missed of school-he has managed to continously make the honor roll!

De'Andre loves Dwayne Wade AND the Miami Heat NBA team, The Minnesota Vikings NFL team, Soulja Boy, The Incredible Hulk (as a matter of fact, De'Andre's favorite color is Green!) golf and video games.

De'Andre is unable to walk short distances so he relies on a power scooter to get around. He gets up every morning and takes a host of medications before school. He never feels sorry for himself, he is quite independant and hopes to be a cardioligist when he grows up.



De'Andre is in dire need of a heart transplant and the costs are overwhelming the family.  

All contributions can be sent to:

The De'Andre Balfour Heart Network
P.O. Box 840
Rex,  Ga 30273