Wearing his heart on his sleeve: Quebec teen launches hoodie brand to raise awareness about rare heart condition

Wyatt Morison-Stacey was born with Hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare condition his doctors say could've cost him his life.

His mother says that when Wyatt was born, she was so afraid of losing him that she even refused to give him a name when asked to make a hospital card.

"I still have his hospital card, but they had signed him up as "BB STACEY," said Corri Morison.

The congenital birth defect prevents the left side of the heart from properly pumping blood to the body.

People born with it, like Wyatt, must undergo a series of surgeries just to stay alive.

Dr. Adrian Dancea, a pediatric cardiologist at the Montreal Children's Hospital, has known Wyatt since birth.

"Unfortunately, a lot of the patients who are born with this condition don't make it very far. There's an attrition risk in terms of the first surgical intervention," he said.

Source: Corri Morison

That risk did not stop Wyatt from beating the odds. Wyatt had three open-heart surgeries by the time he was five years old.

Today, he is 18 years old and healthy.

He graduated high school in Howick in the Montérégie region last June. He will soon start culinary school in LaSalle, a passion for cooking he developed with his mother.

More recently, he launched a hoodie brand to educate people about his condition.

"Instead of always thinking bad about it, I figured I could make it into something positive, and if it can help people along the way, then that's what matters most," said Wyatt.

He designed the hoodies all by himself, from the heart on the front to the logo on the back, which reads "Help Love Help Save," like the acronym of his condition.

"I made it so that the left side [of the heart] is black and white and so that the right side is.. well alive," explains Wyatt. He designed the heart to look just like his own.

He plans to donate $10 from each sale to the Montreal Children's Hospital's cardiology unit.

"I really want to give them the recognition that they deserve," said Wyatt.

FOLLOWING IN HIS FAMILY'S FOOTSTEPS

Corri Morison and her Riverfield Curling for Kids partner, Krista McKoy, raised more than $100,000 over ten years for the hospital's cardiology unit to thank the team of doctors that had been there for Wyatt every step the way.

"They just became my second family," said Corri Morison.

That sentiment is shared with Michelle Zegray, a nurse clinician in the cardiology department, who has shared a bond with the Morison-Stacey family since day one.

Zegray says that Wyatt's parents served as an example for him and that it is no surprise that he's taken it upon himself to shed light on his rare heart condition.

"They showed them [the Morison-Stacey sons] how a community, whether it's their own community where they did the fundraising, the curling, which I went to with my family for years when my daughters were young…how our hospital is a community and how a community can really help each other," says Zegray.

So far, Wyatt has raised over $450 from hoodie sales and will continue promoting them on his Instagram account.

(From left): Corri Morison, Dr. Adrian Dancea, Wyatt Morison-Stacey and Derek Morison. (Source: Corri Morison)