LONG BEACH, CA — A 3-year-old Long Beach girl was recently part of a unique playdate in Los Angeles that brought together kids and dogs who had holes in their hearts successfully treated.
When Aria was just eight months old, her pediatrician heard a murmur in her heart that was caused by a common congenital heart defect known as a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA).
A PDA is a hole in the heart that fails to close as it should following birth, and can be life-threatening.
After she turned 2, because the hole didn’t close on its own, Aria was treated with a minimally invasive device that spared her from open-heart surgery.
The device is made by Abbott Structural Heart Solutions, a California-based company that specializes in technologies that improve people’s quality of life.
Aria is now a healthy, active child, her mother told Patch.
“She’s a very headstrong, resilient little girl,” Aria’s mom, Rocio Arroyo, said during an exclusive interview. “She’s been pretty tough about every situation she’s been through. She kind of brushes it off, like nothing wrong’s actually happening.”
At the playdate, Aria played with a pup and met another little girl, with all of them having in common the fact that they’re now thriving after having the hole in their hearts repaired via non-surgical means.
They played fetch, jumped on a trampoline, and engaged in other fun activities.
“It was really, really cute,” Arroyo said of the playdate.
Arroyo, who attended the event with both her daughter and husband, Andrew, said that the playdate came together when Children’s Hospital Los Angeles reached out to the family to float the idea of getting the kids, their families, and pets together for an afternoon.
“It was just a small get-together of a handful of people, a backyard at someone’s home. It was a beautiful day,” she said. “It turned out to be something really nice and special.”
“It was just a sweet interaction,” she added. “It was just a nice time together. The Abbott team was so nice and so caring, and also just watchful. They were really helpful with assisting.”
“What’s funny is that she’s actually a little fearful of small dogs,” Rocio said of Aria, “but by the end of the day, she was so excited to be able to play with the dog that was there, the dog was super, super sweet and super calm. And she was so comfortable around the dog.”
“For us, it was nice to see other people that have gone through a similar thing, to see another baby that’s gone through the same thing and surprisingly as well, another dog.”
“Overall, I had a very positive experience,” Orroyo said. “The support that we got from the hospital was a great experience.”