The Heart of Tiny Hero
Tiny Hero was made "official" in 2015 as far as the IRS is concerned, but to me, Tiny Hero started seven years ago with my sweet Adam. Surprisingly, sometimes I look back and don't even know how I got to where we are now. Let's take a quick look back to 7 years ago...
We were sitting in the hospital with 5-week old Adam, who had just come off the ventilator and conquered 23 days on ECMO. We got to finally hold him for real. You know that magical feeling. My kids would describe this as "clutch!" If you don't know what I mean by that... go ask your nearest teenager :). My husband Steve and I discussed and reflected on our celebration of these milestones and how we felt so humbled and grateful to go from 20% chance of survival to finally talking about "when we go home."
Up to that point, we didn't dare even broach the subject of going home- we didn't know Adam's fate. It was SO touch and go. We couldn't help but think of all the other families who were currently on this same CDH journey, who were getting a new diagnosis as we sat holding Adam, or who were saying farewell to their child who fought with all the might of the strongest warrior. We couldn't move on and just leave our other CDH families behind- it just didn't feel right. So we started the conversations about how, when, where we could have the most impact.
Just a few short months later, we saw a mom, Kayla, in need, pleading on Facebook for help. We sent her a message, and we helped. Then came Brianne, a friend of our family member who was newly diagnosed and needing help. We guided her the best we could and are still fast friends today. Thus began the chain of events that made us realize that a little help on our end made a world of difference for another CDH family. We wanted to do more and felt an insatiable hunger to reach out and help any and everyone we could. We knew how they felt- the fear and pain were still palpable to us.
Starting Tiny Hero with Adam as a 7-month-old, on oxygen, nighttime tube feeds, a newly discovered anaphylactic allergy problem, a few 911 calls, and homeschooling 4 of Adam's older siblings seems, in retrospect, like an absolutely disastrous time to undertake starting a charity, But that, as it turns out, was the perfect time. I had the appetite and drive to do it as I sat listening to the hum of Adam's oxygen concentrator and peeking in his crib to make sure he wasn't tangled in his tubing for his feeds again. I began all the IRS paperwork between phone calls for his therapy and follow-up appointments with doctors. I can still remember countless late nights sitting at my desk after everyone was sound asleep, pondering, thinking, reflecting, working on the website, and consolidating content that I had wished I had been offered on that dreadful diagnosis day.
And here we are seven years later. Life has "moved on," but the heart of Tiny Hero hasn't. We created Tiny Hero not only to share Adam's story but to support and celebrate you and your story. Though we may come from all parts of the world, there is one glue that will forever hold us together, and that is the common desire to fight for our Tiny Hero kids.
With much adoration,
Annie Zolman, Mom to Tiny Hero Adam
Founder of Tiny Hero
