#SavannahStrong: Northeast Ohio family raising awareness about congenital heart defects in memory of late daughter

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) -Jennifer Adamczyk beams with pride when she talks about her late daughter, Savannah Rose.

“She was the strongest baby that the PICU has ever seen and we were told that from multiple nurses and doctors. She fought really hard and was resilient and inspiring. Unfortunately she passed at 14 months old but at such a short life, she made such a big impact,” said Adamczyk.

Which is how the family came up with the slogan #SavannahStrong to honor her memory.

Adamczyk tells 19 News Savannah was born with a congenital birth defect in December 2019 and that at first their family was private about her diagnosis.

But when she passed on in February 2021, they wanted to turn their pain into purpose.

“That’s one of the things, it’s like you don’t know the world of congenital heart defects until it is your world,” said Adamczyk. ”Not only does it feel like our job as a heart angel family but it means so much in our heart to keep Savannah’s memory and story alive knowing that there’s hopefully a family, even if it’s one to avoid what we’ve gone through,” she said.

The family got involved with the Children’s Heart Foundation.

Since 1996, the non-profit has raised more than $15M dollars for research and scientific collaboration. It also hosts ‘heart walks’ all around the country, including right here in Cleveland.

For the third year in a row, the Adamczyk family plan to wear their #SavannahStrong tees next month to get the word out. They’ve already raised thousands of dollars in donations.

“The goal is that in the end the research is there whether it be the diagnosis, the treatment, the prevention of a heart defect so that other families don’t have to go through what we went through in losing our child,” said Adamczyk.

The Cleveland Congenital Heart Walk is scheduled for Sept. 16 at Wade, Oval. Click here for more information.

Click here if you’d like to support Team #SavannahStrong

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