When Greg and Matt adopted 7-week-old Alister, they knew there would be challenges. Alister’s cardiologist explained that the baby boy had five different heart defects and would require daily medications, multiple open-heart surgeries and lifelong specialized care. But they were excited and ready to become dads.

At just 4 months old, Alister underwent his first open-heart surgery. Although his parents hoped they wouldn’t have to hand their son over to a surgeon for many years, Alister needed his second open-heart surgery at 2 years old — and then a third one four months after that. Alister would end up having 12 surgeries, including four open-heart surgeries, by the age of 5.

Alister became more medically complex by the year. In addition to his heart diseases, he developed issues with his lungs, diaphragm, kidneys, immune system, and other organs and systems.

When Alister was 2 years old, he and Greg were in the front yard when Alister suddenly went into respiratory arrest, stopped breathing and collapsed. Greg performed CPR for seven minutes while waiting for the paramedics to arrive. Alister finally took a breath as the ambulance pulled up.

The incident terrified Greg and Matt. Needing more answers, they decided to transition Alister’s care to Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. They trusted that Johns Hopkins was best equipped to manage his increasing medical complexity and that they would get the answers needed to keep Alister healthy and safe.

Alister was in and out of the pediatric intensive care unit and the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit for much of the first half of 2020 due to heart and lung complications. This coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which made the hospitalizations even scarier.

In 2023, Alister’s heart began to fail again. The team at the Blalock-Taussig-Thomas Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center knew that he urgently needed a fourth open-heart surgery. Alister’s lead surgeon devoted many hours with Greg and Matt over video conferences to explain the surgical plan and detail the significant risks. Since this would be Alister’s fourth open-heart surgery in five years, this would be his final heart surgery. If the surgery was unsuccessful — or if his heart failed again — then he would need a heart transplant. Although Alister’s surgeons were confident that they could repair his heart, they also completed the steps required for Alister to be immediately added to the national transplant list in case the surgery failed.

The surgery took 17 hours, and it was a total success. Alister was home within two weeks and started kindergarten just five weeks after surgery.

“Johns Hopkins has the best experts for Alister,” says Greg. “They apply their deep knowledge to understand and treat his complex needs, while treating him — and Matt and I — with kindness, compassion and dignity.”

Alister is now cared for by 10 Johns Hopkins pediatric specialists and receives a range of treatments and daily medications, but his parents hope the days of crisis are behind them. They just want Alister to thrive as the happy, vibrant, social, artistic, creative, inquisitive, friendly kid that he is.

“His doctors care so much about Alister,” said Matt. “Even though it’s a large hospital, they don’t treat him like a number. They really care, and they know every detail about his particular needs. What else could we ask for from his medical team?”