Josiah Barfield has not lost his spark as he is in recovery.
Josiah was one of 11Alive’s first Brave Conquers Fear kids and at 5-years-old he is recovering from his third open-heart surgery.
His first heart surgery came at 8-days-old. Doctors at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta found his congenital heart defect when his mom was 23 weeks pregnant.
Doctors diagnosed Josiah with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) meaning the left part of his heart didn’t form correctly, and it affects the normal flow of the blood through the heart.
By 6-months-old, Josiah was in heart failure and on a transplant list. In June 2013, Children’s cardiothoracic surgeons did a second heart surgery.
“In those days, it was minute by minute, day by day and hour by hour,” Lacy said.
Then, the child whose name means “healed by God” was. His mom is convinced of it and they were able to go home.
Now at 5-years-old, Josiah has racked up hundreds of courage beads: one for every medical procedure he's had and is adding more beads to his collection right now following his third surgery.
The irony is that you'll be hard-pressed to find another child with a heart as big and joyful as Josiah who has been singing the national anthem at events around Atlanta.
We’re sure he'll be singing to his nurses soon.
