The Official Kids Mag Hero we found this month is Camden Tucker. Camden, who is 15 years old, has been in and out of Arkansas Children’s Hospital several times for heart surgeries and procedures.
At five years old, Camden had open-heart surgery at Arkansas Children’s Hospital for subaortic stenosis. This surgery fixed restricted blood flow to the heart’s pumping chamber. She was in the hospital four days recovering, then had check- ups every six months.
The danger wasn’t over for Camden’s heart. At 13, she developed a supraventricular tachycardia, which is an abnormally fast heartbeat. This happened after dance class one day, and her heart rate kept climbing.
Some medication worked to control her heart, but it made her feel bad. She had the choice of another heart procedure, an ablation, or staying on the medication.
Camden chose to have the procedure instead of daily medication. She was out of school for three days this time.
Four months later, Camden had a second ablation procedure at Arkansas Children’s Hospital and was quickly back to being a regular teen.
During this time spent at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Camden went to the art room at Children’s. She says, “It’s what made me happy.” She spent lots of time in the art room. She started to participate in The Holiday Card Project for the Childrens Hospital Gift Shop.
The art room made such a difference for Camden, she has gathered art supplies and donated them to the art room so other kids in the hospital can spend time in the art room.
Official Kids Mag thinks Camden is a great example of what a hero is. Through lots of adversity, she still thinks of others and how she can help kids when they are going through medical challenges like she has.