From top to bottom: Brave Hearts
children Elaina Morris, Evan Karr
and Lucas Seraphine.
2004, the Karr’s didn’t know what the future might hold.
“We felt pretty alone, pretty scared,” said Sarah. The Karrs
were introduced to another couple with a child in the same
condition. The couples became fast friends by helping
each other through the same trying circumstances.
“We just became a very close support group. That first
year, we participated in the American Heart Association’s
Heart Walk. We decorated our strollers, put banners on
them and went as a group. The next year we decided
we should make our own team,” she said, explaining the
group continued to grow as they met families facing similar circumstances. One of the other mothers happened
to come across the Lion Care Bear, “Brave Heart,” and
the name stuck.
“We wanted to do something to make a difference in
pediatric heart defects. At this point, we were a 20 family
strong group. We wanted to raise money, and we wanted to be able to choose where it went. Kosair Children’s
Hospital was the only organization who could do that for
us,” Karr said.
To raise money for families in need, Brave Hearts used
every means at their disposal. They wrote letters to legislators encouraging February 7-14 to be named Congenital
Heart Awareness Week and attended the proceedings
in Frankfort. They also host an annual golf scramble and
work with other charity organizations throughout the
state. Most recently, Brave Hearts entered into a partnership with the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame to raise
more money for the Brave Hearts program and supporting
families in need.
“When we joined Kosair Children’s Hospital, we realized
we still needed to reach families who didn’t even know
we were here. It was then we found out there were two
Brave Hearts groups and the other was actually made up
of doctors,” Karr said. “We met, said we were sorry and
we had no idea. The doctors were extremely nice. They
said, ‘I think we have the same mission.’ ”
Evan Karr rides a horse with Camp for
Courageous Kids Director Ed Collins.
raise awareness of pediatric heart defects, support families
as they find them and raise money for the program. Sarah
Karr works as the Brave Hearts Family Chair and helps to
coordinate events and fundraising endeavors.
When children at Kosair Children’s Hospital are admitted
to surgery, their families receive a gift bag with helpful
items and information about the Brave Hearts program
which they’re welcome to join as they feel comfortable.
“For one, we don’t want them to feel alone. Things can be
better. Things will be better. To be able to give back just
gives you so much purpose, and we have a great support
system of nurses, doctors, therapists and families,” said
Karr. “We have an amazing staff. I can’t speak higher of
our doctors at Kosair Children’s Hospital.”
With year round support, fund-raising and annual camps
to look forward to, Brave Hearts has made a huge stand
in helping families overcome terrible trauma. However,
there remains more work to be done.
“We’re now trying to grow by bringing in kids from communities as far away as Indianapolis and Nashville,” said
Dr. Sobczyk. “We also want to provide more activities
and events within the hospital system. We have a goal of
helping the hospital develop new and innovative care for
children with heart disease.”
Dr. Boone agreed, “I think the goal of Brave Hearts is trying
to make every part of that care better: support for families,
support for children. After what they’ve been through, we
want to give them as normal a life as possible.”
One out of every 100 children born has a heart defect of
some kind. While strides have been made in recent years
to better serve children in need, there still remains much
work to be done in Kentucky and across the nation.
For more information about how to get involved with
Brave Hearts, visit the group’s Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/kosairchildrens.bravehearts or call
502-639-8060.
Now the two Brave Hearts groups, the camp and the fundraising team, work in tandem. Families work year round to
VITAL SIGNS Volume 9 • Issue 3
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