BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The uplifting story of a University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) biology student's power to overcome a lifelong heart condition and three open-heart surgeries is featured in the February edition of Woman's Day magazine.
Jessica Martinez, a 24-year-old from Duluth, Ga., in her senior year at UAB, is included in a story about women who have survived heart disease. In the article, she explains the physical and emotional toll of undergoing three separate open-heart surgeries before turning 24.
Martinez' first two surgeries were performed before age 2; she was born with a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot, an uncommon condition involving defects within the heart structures that result in oxygen-poor blood flowing out of the heart and into the body.
"I lived a relatively healthy and happy childhood," Martinez says. "When I was 13 doctors said that I could no longer play organized sports, but I really enjoyed a normal life until college."
The hardship of heart disease returned when Martinez was a college freshman. UAB doctors told Martinez that her pulmonary artery valve had to be replaced because it was too weak, putting too much strain on her heart. During the multiple, difficult surgeries that followed, Martinez survived collapsed lungs and an infection, but she now is living with a new pulmonary valve and an implanted heart defibrillator to manage her heart beat.
"My UAB doctors were amazing, and I would not be here today without them," Martinez says. "After my surgeries in 2009, I started thinking how lucky I am to still be alive and to have insurance that helped pay for all my procedures."
In the summer 2009, Martinez put her feelings of good fortune into action, starting her own Web page on the Larry King Cardiac Foundation Web site. She is using the page to raise both awareness and funds to help others survive heart disease.
"I have the initial goal to raise $2,500 for the Larry King Cardiac foundation but want to raise as much money as possible. Even $1 will help," Martinez says.
But her service to saving others with heart disease doesn't stop there.
"I am planning to become a pediatric cardiologist one day," Martinez says. "I feel stronger than ever, and I want to use my life experiences while treating other young patients who face what I have faced."
About UAB
Known for its innovative and interdisciplinary approach to education at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is the state of Alabama's largest employer and an internationally renowned research university and academic health center whose professional schools and specialty patient care programs are consistently ranked as among the nation's top 50; find more information at www.uab.edu and www.uabmedicine.org.