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Friday, July 16, 2004 Taunton baby's need for new heart desperate By Terence J. Downing, Enterprise staff writer TAUNTON — A baby who was injured by a drunken driver last year has been hospitalized and is in desperate need of a heart transplant. Fifteen-month-old Lorenzo Galarza stopped breathing briefly Thursday and was rushed to Children's Hospital in Boston, where he was listed in stable condition. "My daughter called me in a panic," said Grace Rickell, Lorenzo's grandmother. "The cardiologist said it's more than likely that he will stay in the hospital now until he gets the transplant," Rickell said shortly after leaving the hospital Thursday night. "He's in the best place he can be right now, and his mother is by his side," Rickell said. Lorenzo was put on the heart transplant list 20 days ago, she said, when his condition began to deteriorate. He has been in and out of the hospital since then and he took a turn for the worse Thursday, she said. "All we can do is wait and pray. He's a fighter," said Rickell. "We're confident he will get a transplant. Faith is keeping us going. All the prayers will help and we're keeping our chins up," she said. Lorenzo has an enlarged heart that is eight times bigger than it should be. A valve has also stopped working. "They told us he's the smallest child with the biggest heart in the hospital," Rickell said. Finding a suitable heart that meets certain criteria, including blood type, is not easy. Because Lorenzo's heart is so large, he will need the transplanted heart of an older child. Lorenzo can receive the heart of a child up to 11 years old. Doctors say Lorenzo's heart problems stem from a Jan. 14, 2003, crash in which his pregnant mother, Heather L. Rickell, was injured. A vehicle driven by habitual drunken driver Gary J. Murphy of Brockton smashed head-on into Heather Rickell's vehicle on Route 44 in Raynham. She was seven months pregnant with Lorenzo at the time. Murphy, a five-time convicted drunken driver, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in jail. Heather Rickell suffered permanent injuries, and doctors feared her unborn baby might not survive, but on March 31, 2003, Rickell gave birth to Lorenzo Galarza. No one knew he had major heart problems linked to the crash until last Mother's Day when the family went to the beach in Newport. He was 6 weeks old. Suddenly, the baby stopped breathing and turned blue. He was rushed to the local hospital, then transferred to Children's Hospital. Doctors found he had multiple problems, including severe dilated cardiomyopathy: His heart was too large and he had other problems. |
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