‘We were in the right place for her’: Parents talk how Norton Children’s Hospital fixed their daughter’s heart

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - You can get a raffle ticket now for $100 to enter to win a new house in Norton Commons or $750,000 in cash.

The money raised from the raffle will go to growth and development at Norton Children’s Hospital.

Every year, the hospital provides care for 215,000 children, including two-year-old Lily Newcomb.

When we met Lily, she didn’t want to put down her stuffed toy, a dog named Duncan. It’s just like the real one she spent time with at Norton Children’s Hospital after she had open heart surgery in January of this year.

“Just an amazing journey and she’s handled it so well,” said her father, Paul Newcomb.

Lily was 16 months old when her pediatrician noticed a heart murmur and sent her to a cardiologist.

“Found out two months after that appointment Lily had a hole in her heart that she was born with,” her mother, Lauren Cherry Newcomb, said. “And we didn’t know until 18 months old she had this condition.”

They said they never suspected anything was wrong.

“She would be really tired in the evenings, and that was the sign we probably missed,” Paul Newcomb said.

She now sees a cardiologist at Norton Children’s, Dr. Del McOmber.

“A lot of times, we catch these in teenagers. If it is something, if it’s as big as Lily’,s obviously it needed to be closed,” Dr. McOmber said.

That meant she needed open-heart surgery. It took just 30 minutes, but it was so hard for Lauren and Paul to see their only child connected to so many tubes after the surgery.

They tried to remember what the nurses and doctors told them.

“It’s going to be a lot harder on you than it is on her because she’s never going to remember this part of her life,” Lauren said.

It didn’t take long for Lily to recover.

Just a few days after surgery, she was walking around.

“All she wanted to do was go to the playroom,” Paul remembers. “There’s a little mini shopping cart, and so, she was grabbing the cart, putting stuff in it, walking around.”

Now, Lily’s heart is fixed.

She only needs to see her cardiologist every six months to a year.

“It’s great. This is the whole reason to do it, is to watch them grow up and then move on,” Dr. McOmber said.

The Newcombs said they are so grateful for the staff at Norton Children’s Hospital.

“I think what I learned through this is it’s ok to be scared, but also knowing you’re in the right place and in the right hands. Especially at Norton Children’s Hospital gave us a lot of confidence,” Lauren said. “We’re just really grateful that we were in the right place for her.”

If you get the $100 raffle ticket by Wednesday, you could win groceries for a year. That drawing will take place on Oct. 24 on WAVE.

If you want to see this year’s house in person, they have open houses on the weekend.

To get your ticket, click here.

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