“Many people helped me. Most of all, the child and family who gave me a chance at a healthy life,” he told his school.
YORK, Maine — Every year, schools across the nation take part in fundraising for the American Heart Association’s “Kids Heart Challenge,” formerly known as “Jump Rope for Heart.” Students raise money to help other children with heart defects, helping fund research and cover costs for families paying for hospital stays and operations.
It’s a story one Coastal Ridge Elementary School fourth grader, Wesley Ethridge, knows all too well, which is why his teachers wanted him to tell the school why their fundraising efforts are so important during a school assembly.
“This was kind of special, so I could speak in front of the whole school and tell my story,” he said.
Ten-year-old Wesley was born with a congenital heart condition and had his first heart surgery at …