Valley baby could be new face of Gerber
Little Riley Tonge of Mesa was born with only half a heart but he is full of life and could be the next face of Gerber foods.
Little Riley Tonge of Mesa is a fighter. He's been through more and fought harder to live than most will there entire lives.
"He is a cardiac child, he was diagnosed with the most severe congenital heart defect. Called hypo-plastic left heart syndrome," said his mom Lauren Tonge.
Riley survived his first open heart surgery when he was only days old. His second just months later.
"Every single surgery is to reroute the blood because essentially he only has one ventricle so instead of having two they have one doing the job of both," said Tonge.
His strength through the pain, recovery and endless days spent in the hospital, which were more than the days he spent at home, serving as an inspiration to everyone around him.
"There are so many different words to describe my son especially. Even the nurses in the cardiac unit: spitfire, sassy, extremely vivacious, just full of life."
During all of this Riley's parents struggled through periods of unemployment and the devastating discontinuation of their health insurance.
"It's very difficult. It's definitely a constant juggling game," said Tonge.
To celebrate Riley's journey his parents wanted to share his story in order to give hope to other families going through the same ordeal. So they submitted a photo, that truly captures his sparkling personality, to the 2015 Gerber Baby contest, and he is now a contender.
"It would literally be like a gift from God," said Tonge.
Winning would not only give his family the ability to spread awareness of congenital heart defects but the prize of $50,000.00 would go a long way in covering Riley's ongoing medical expenses.