NEW ORLEANS —

Jules Tanksley, a seven-year-old girl from Louisiana, is thriving despite being born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a condition where only one side of her heart developed, thanks to multiple surgeries at Children's Hospital.

"So only one side of her heart grew. So she essentially still has half of a heart, and she's living with half of a heart at seven years old, thanks to Children's Hospital," said Keri Beth Tanksley, Jules' mother. Advertisement

Without early intervention, babies with this condition can face life-threatening challenges. Doctors at Children's Hospital reworked the plumbing of Jules' heart, allowing her to survive and thrive.

"What some pioneers of my field discovered many years ago is that you don't need a ventricle to pump blood, specifically to

See Full Page