Matt Barber’s parents vividly remember when he was a toddler, but many of their memories are not about typical milestones such as Matt’s first word or how he learned to walk. Matt’s parents recall watching their 2-year-old son moments before his heart surgery, squirming under the restraining straps of a cold metal table at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

“It was the scariest moment of my life,” Maryanne Barber, Matt’s mother, said.

Matt, sophomore, was born with a ventricular septal defect (VSD), sometimes referred to as a hole in the heart. A VSD is a heart defect in which there is an abnormal opening in the dividing wall between the main pumping chambers of the heart. This hole permits blood to leak through between the chambers, which makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood efficiently.

When Matt’s parents discovered their son had a VSD, they were nervous and unsure of what to do.

“I took Matt in for his first check-up thinking he was healthy, and the pediatrician sent us to a cardiologist,” Maryanne said. “I remember the drive over wondering if he was going to live because no one knew what was going on.”

According to kidshealth.net, about eight out of every 1,000 babies born have heart defects, and about 30 percent of those babies have a VSD. In about 40 percent of the kids born with VSDs, the opening is small and it closes on its own after birth. However, the hole in Matt’s heart did not close, and he needed surgery.

“The surgeons split open my chest and took out my heart,” Matt said. “They put a machine in my body to pump my blood for me, so basically I had a machine acting as my heart during the surgery.”

Initially, the surgeons expected Matt to remain in the hospital for a week after his surgery. Instead, Matt was released several days early on Thanksgiving day.

“Matt made a remarkable recovery, and it was the best Thanksgiving ever,” Maryanne said. “The experience has made us very grateful and sympathetic to people struggling with sick children.”

After his surgery, Matt had to undergo routine check-ups once each month to ensure he was healing properly. Now, Matt is completely recovered. He does not have to take any medicine and he can enjoy playing sports.

“It’s weird thinking about my surgery because sometimes it seems like it’s not a big deal, but whenever I tell someone about it they are shocked,” Matt said. “I hear about other kids who have had lots of surgeries, and I feel like I’m pretty lucky because I only had to have one, and I recovered quickly.”