Twenty-five weeks into her pregnancy, Samih Angelo's mother, Rebecca-Ann Belmonte, learned her son had a heart condition that would require open heart surgery as a newborn.
"It was clear that he would be he would be needing the Fontan procedure, which is a three-step open heart surgery over the space of four years, more or less," said Belmonte.
Following his first surgery, the Alame family lived at the Montreal Children's Hospital for over three months.
"It's hard to see your child hooked up to all these machines, you know, because after an open heart surgery, he's just hooked up to all of these machines," said his mother.
"So he was very, very strong and pulled through all of the other challenges that came in the weeks that followed.".
After a fourth and final surgery, Samih Angelo is now able to do all of the activities he loves.
And as he's about to start Grade Six, Samih Angelo has a lot to look forward to. »