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It’s a tale of two hearts.

David Munro's physical heart, the one with just two chambers at birth, was not destined to support life for more than a few months.

His other heart – the emotional, inner drive that allows him to overcome obstacles – is just fine. Thriving, in fact.

The physical heart is on the wrong side of his chest. Five surgeries over 18 years, four in the first six years of his life, have modified it enough to grow as the boy grows.

His other heart – the one that holds empathy for others, even though their pain doesn’t always match his own – is evident. He’s seen and offered kind words to many other sick kids, and he volunteers at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital.

Of course, on most days not many people think about David Munro’s physical heart.

But on any given day it's impossible to miss the true heart of this Lincoln Southwest High School senior. 

“The things he goes through - and yet still is able to maintain as normal as possible a high school experience - it's absolutely amazing to me,” said Dennis Hershberger, David’s social studies teacher.  “I think other kids could learn a lot by how David takes care of what he needs to do to be successful.”

And he’s successful in many areas, said Rob Slauson, principal at Southwest.

David is a student manager for the Silver Hawks basketball team, running clock and setting up for practice, and filming games, or keeping stats or handling other game-day duties. 

“He’s really involved in not just the basketball program, but he’s a student ambassador, and he’s also part of the SHOWS program, Silver Hawks Helping Other Silver Hawks,” Slauson said. “David is really committed to helping our ninth-graders get off to a great start. He’s a real strong leader, a really strong student, he takes really difficult classes, and he puts a lot of effort into the work that he does.”

David was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (for more, read below). His cardiologist said it’s referred to as having half a heart, and is found in only about one of every 5,000 babies born. 

This past October he returned to Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan Medical Center for the fifth surgery he's undergone to improve his heart. After 13 days in the hospital, and about two weeks recuperating at home, he returned to Michigan because of complications.

But he came home again for Thanksgiving - and says he feels just fine and ready to tackle his final semester of high school.

“I just want people to know who I am,” David said. “I do choir and basketball, I do ambassadors, but I also have the other things, all my medical conditions. I mean, it’s important, but really it’s who you are and what you do, not what you have.” 

The information below came from David’s mother, Susie Keisler-Munro, and his cardiologist.

About Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

David was born with a serious congenital heart defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) where the left side of the heart is significantly underformed and virtually absent. These babies are often referred to as having “half a heart” due to the non-functional nature of the left ventricle which pumps all the red (or oxygenated) blood to the body. This condition is rare, occurring in only about one of every 5,000 babies born. Without treatment, babies with HLHS will die within the first month of life. Treatment options are infant heart transplantation to replace the defective heart or a series of staged surgical procedures designed to re-route the blood flow within the heart and associated structures to allow life with a single right ventricle. David’s course of treatment was the latter. 

“David has an even rarer form of HLHS because his heart is on the right side of his body, rather than the left side (dextrocardia), which makes his surgical repairs more technically difficult," according to Dr. Ameeta Martin, David’s pediatric cardiologist.  "His lungs and liver are also not normal and the combination of his anomalies makes David very unique. He has outlived virtually everyone with his combination of lesions.” 

In the staged surgical procedure which David has undergone, the heart’s only functioning ventricle, the right one, is used to pump red blood to the body instead of the lungs. The blue deoxygenated blood is routed completely passively to the lungs (without use of a pump) by connecting the 2 major veins directly to the lung arteries. Any major infection of the lungs can severely compromise blood flow to the lungs and is life-threatening.

The long term outlook for children who have undergone the staged surgical repair is uncertain. These surgical procedures were only developed in the late 1980s and the oldest survivors are in their mid-20s. Most patients will require a heart transplant at some point in the future. Related liver problems also pose long-term concerns for these patients and they require expert medical care throughout their life.