Obstacles didn't stop this heart defect survivor from competing on 'American Ninja Warrior'

21岁时，克里斯·奥康奈尔(Chris O'Connell)得知他的儿科心脏病专家退休了. He was assigned a new doctor for the annual checkups he'd had all his life.

“我知道有人告诉你不要过度锻炼，也不要过度劳累, 但那是旧的思维方式,心脏病专家告诉他. “把你的心脏想象成一块需要锻炼的肌肉."

克里斯措手不及.

“你是认真的吗??他问.

克里斯住在旧金山以北一小时车程的罗内特公园, California – was an infant when he was diagnosed with a transitional atrioventricular canal defect. He was born with a condition in which extra blood travels to the lung arteries, 哪一种会使心脏和肺部工作更辛苦. 这会导致心脏增大，肺部充血.

3岁时，他接受了手术来修复这个问题. His pediatric cardiologist warned him not to exert himself because it could further strain his heart. 他的父母强制执行了看似合理的建议.

克里斯小的时候，他说服父母让他打棒球. Although he was great at hitting the ball, he forced himself to run tepidly. 高中时，他改打高尔夫.

现在, 从他的新医生那里听到这个激动人心的消息, 他得到了一个不同的信息——放松自己，推动自己.

“也许你可以开始跑步了，”他的妻子艾米丽·奥康奈尔(Emily O’connell)建议道.

克里斯花了几个月的线上电子游戏飞禽走兽才完全理解这个想法. Then he decided, "If I'm going to do this, I'm going to go for it all the way."

他最喜欢的电视节目之一是《线上娱乐电子游戏网站》," a sports entertainment reality show where thousands of competitors attempt to complete a series of obstacle courses of increasing difficulty.

他将开始为演出进行训练.

三年后, in 2013, Chris was finally ready to submit a video showing he was worthy of an audition. 他处于一生中最好的状态, 提高了上半身的力量, 握力和平衡, 这些都是比赛的重要技能.

在录制之前，他去做了一年一度的心脏检查.

几天后，他正在高尔夫球场上，他的心脏病专家打来电话. 她告诉他主动脉瓣有问题. 它需要马上修理.

“我们能等几个月吗?他问. “我妻子怀孕8个月了."

医生说不行. 手术定于两周后进行.

瓣膜修复成功了. 但克里斯出现了并发症——双肺衰竭. 他接受了紧急手术，在医院住了11天.

When he returned home, he could barely walk and was told not to lift anything. Emily, still pregnant, had to do everything for him, including helping him sit up.

不到一个月后，他们的儿子卡文出生了.

Everything went well with the delivery, and 卡文 received a clean bill of health. 年前, the couple had been told it was unlikely they'd have a child with a heart defect, 事实似乎就是如此.

Then, at 卡文's two-week checkup, the pediatrician listened to 卡文's heart for an extended time.

克里斯和艾米丽紧张地面面相觑.

“在他说话之前我就已经知道了，”克里斯说.

卡文被诊断出患有两种先天性心脏缺陷. 一种是心内膜垫缺损，和他父亲的相似. 二是二尖瓣狭窄, a narrowing of the heart's mitral valve that can cause exhaustion and shortness of breath, 在其他问题中.

Doctors said 卡文 would need several surgeries throughout his life to repair the damage. 第一次手术是在他两个月大的时候.

"That first moment of seeing him at the ICU after the surgery with over a dozen wires hooked up to him with his chest open made me sick to my stomach,艾米丽说. “我觉得自己内心快死了."

卡文 developed complications and ended up spending 36 days in the hospital.

两年后，他需要做第二次手术. 手术进行得很顺利，他四天后就回家了. 现在他8岁了，将来他还要面对其他人.

Chris, meanwhile, never gave up on his dream of becoming an American Ninja Warrior.

Once he recovered from surgery and 卡文's health had stabilized, he returned to training. 2018年，他再次试镜.

“为了跨越障碍，我一直在锻炼上半身, 但我没有准备好面对真正的障碍,他说. "It's way harder on an actual course because you have to do all these specialty moves with your body."

他在第一个障碍上摔倒，使他退出了比赛.

2019年，他被邀请回来. 他成功越过了第二个障碍.

今年，他又回来了. 现在 32, he got through three obstacles, enough to put him on a televised episode. 该节目于3月中旬录制，7月11日播出.

Before Chris competed, a video aired about his and 卡文's heart defects and surgeries. 然后镜头切换到卡文和艾米丽在贵宾区.

“起初我想这样做是为了证明自己,克里斯说。, 以"心武士忍者"的名义参加比赛. “然后我意识到，如果我能在直播中成功, then I can help other people too by bringing focus to congenital heart defects. 我也想让卡文知道一切皆有可能, 他不需要害怕，也不需要放慢脚步，因为他的心."

艾米丽说卡文已经跟随他父亲的脚步了.

"It's like Chris isn't afraid of anything, so 卡文 has this fearless energy too,艾米丽说. “作为一个妈妈，这有点可怕，但也有点酷. 害怕是可以的，但你不必让恐惧支配你的生活."

发自内心的故事 chronicles the inspiring journeys of heart disease and stroke survivors, caregivers and advocates.

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