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Canby girl's family raising money for heart transplant

Cora was born with a rare heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Doctors say she needs a new heart.

CANBY, Ore. -- A brave little girl in Canby has already gone through so much in her six years of life.

Cora Sutton was born with a rare heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Doctors say she needs a new heart.

If you hang out with little Cora, she seems just like any other kid. At six years old she loves her toys.

“She's a lovebug. I don't know how else to put it,” said Cora’s great aunt, Janeen Scott.

But what you don't see is the heart defect she's battled since she was born.

“It's kind of scary when you have to like get the shot right here,” said Cora as she motioned to her arm.

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome affects normal blood flow through the heart because the left side didn't form correctly.

“At seven days old she had her first open heart surgery,” said Cora’s mom, Rachelle Dominguez.

These days she has lots of doctor appointments, medicine twice a day, and she gets tired easily.

“It's really hard. It's hard especially when you're the mom and you're trying to hold everybody together,” said Dominguez.

Together the family is holding on and waiting for a heart.

“Once they get that call we have to literally out the door, go and get to Seattle within 3-4 hours,” Dominguez said.

The procedure will be complicated and costly. That's why family members have started a fundraising campaign with the help of the Children's Organ Transplant Association. There is currently a starting goal of $40,000. But the family is trying to raise as much money as possible, since the cost of a heart transplant can skyrocket to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Scott, who’s spearheading the campaign, said she’s doing it to try to help relieve a little stress for Dominguez.

“That way she [Dominguez] can be a mom, do what she needs to do for her children and not have to worry about how is this money going to be raised,” said Scott.

Even though it'll be scary, Cora can't wait to get her new heart.

“Because it might help me,” Cora said.

“We'll have less appointments, she'll be able to even play sports. Right now she's not really able to do that. She'll be able to be a normal kid,” said Dominguez.

But it'll still be a long journey ahead. Cora will likely have to get another heart transplant when she's older.

“She’s going to have a second heart transplant when she gets older. This is not something that’s just one and done. So any donations actually follow her, when she’s older, that she may need to use as well which is really great,” Dominguez said.

For now, Cora may have to wait eight months to a year a half for a heart. Fortunately at this point, she's stable and staying as brave as ever.

“She’s really a good kid and we’re really proud of her. [We’re] really, really proud of her,” said Scott.

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