Carl Wolford
Carl Wolford: I was born in 1957, the fourth of five children. At four months old I was only the second baby to survive a surgical procedure by Dr. Denton Cooley to correct the heart defect called Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return, or TAPVR. After being near death prior to surgery, the total correction has led to a very active life full of sports (some still continue today), a long-time career as a financial advisor, three children of my own, none of which have any heart defects whatsoever, and a passion for encouraging and helping others affected by congenital heart defects. From that day in the recovery room at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, until a pacemaker was installed 18 months ago, I had nothing whatsoever that slowed me down or limited my very active lifestyle in any way. For fifty-four years I needed nothing. Needless to say, Dr. Cooley did good work.
