Sierra Kempf

Posted 1/24/06

Before Sierra Kempf of Newburgh in southern Indiana was four days old, she required open heart surgery. Her diagnosis was Turner's Syndrome, a condition in which one of two X chromosomes is partially or completely missing. In her case she needed heart surgery for a narrowed artery as well as repair of a drooping eyelid, both necessary procedures following the diagnosis.

Sierra's mother Jennifer Conger described other corrections which were needed - tonsils and adenoids removed when Sierra was two and a half. Jennifer said, "We learned that her surgeon, Dr. John Brown, is considered one of the top doctors in his field in the world!"

Today, at five years of age, Sierra attends pre-school and has in-home therapy for comprehension and visual perception. Jennifer adds, "A Riley doctor comes all the way down to Newburgh to evaluate her which to us is just amazing. If it were not for Riley Hospital, Sierra would not have lived."