YORK COUNTY, Pa. — Challenges are nothing new to the Duffy family of Springettsbury Township.
Three of Tom and Maura Duffy's four children were born with heart defects. Oldest son Tommy was born with truncus arteriosus and had multiple heart surgeries. Youngest son Joey was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic syndrome at two years old and had to receive a bone marrow transplant. Now, their youngest child and only daughter, two-year-old Sadie, was born with a condition called Tetralogy of Fallot, and has had three heart surgeries already.
"[Doctors] are still waiting for parts of her heart to grow, but like any normal 2-year-old, she's bouncing around and having a great time," Tom said.
The Duffys positive attitude at life, even in the midst of a COVID-19 quarantine, is thanks in large part to the work done by the Casey Cares Foundation, a non-profit out of Baltimore which provides families with critically ill children the opportunity to go to events they normally wouldn't get the chance to do.
"It's hard when you have sick children to make plans, because plans get canceled, so its nice they throw this out there if you’re available," Tom said.
In the past, they've attended Baltimore Orioles games, or trips to the National Aquarium courtesy Casey Cares. However, now that they're stuck inside, Casey Cares is providing stay-at-home material, like pajamas for the kids, movie gift cards, and pizza parties.
"It's challenging with children with health issues because they might be in the high risk zone, so we’ve been kept on lockdown," Tom said. "When Casey Cares sends something, it's a nice break, like, 'Hey kids we got something in the mail!'"