A Jefferson County girl will celebrate her successful open-heart surgery by collecting money to support those who helped her.
Emily White, 10, and her family members, who live in Pevely, will hold the first Emily’s Big Duck Run on Saturday and donate the proceeds to the St. Louis Children’s Hospital Heart Center.
“It is going to be really fun,” Emily said.
The duck run is scheduled to start at 9:40 a.m. at TJ’s Bar and Grill, 8641 Commercial Blvd., in Pevely. Participants will then travel to the Dew Drop Inn, 710 Hwy. 61, in Bloomsdale and then to the LaChance Vineyards, 12237 Peter Moore Lane, in De Soto and lastly to 21 Rock, 1 Meramec Heights Shopping Center, west of Arnold before returning to TJ’s.
The duck run is similar to a poker run and plays off the trend of “Jeep ducking” – the practice of those who enjoy Jeeps, particularly Jeep Wranglers, who, as a friendly gesture, leave rubber ducks on other Jeeps they encounter. Many Jeep owners display the ducks across their dashboards.
Emily’s Big Duck Run is open to all vehicles, not just Jeeps, and instead of players collecting cards to create the best poker hand, they will draw ducks of different colors.
Emily’s mom, Amber White, said players will draw three ducks, either red, white or blue ones, at each stop. They will record their color at each stop, and at the end of the run, each color will be assigned a value of either $10, $20 or $30. The player whose ducks add up to the highest total will win a first-place trophy. An award will also be presented to the second-best draw and to the worst draw.
The cost to enter the duck run is $15 for one hand and $5 for each additional hand.
Amber said the family initially planned to hold a party for Emily to commemorate her successful open-heart surgery on July 9, 2024, to insert a valve between the two upper chambers of her heart and properly connect veins to her heart. However, Emily requested holding a fundraising event instead of a birthday party and gifts.
“It caught me off guard,” Amber said of her daughter not wanting a party. “I am grateful she sees the bigger picture. (The event) is about her because she has overcome so much, but for her to want to give back to others, that just blows my mind.”
As of July 10, more than 90 people had responded to the duck run’s Facebook event page. Amber said information about the event is available on the Jeepin Friends Facebook page. Or, people may call her at 314-570-7651.
“I want to see the community come together to not only show her (Emily) some love, but show Children’s Hospital how much we appreciate them,” Amber said. “I’m sure most of us with children have been there for something.”
Emily’s battle
Amber said she and her husband, Jeff White, learned in April 2024 that their daughter had a heart defect.
Emily wears hearing aids because she has hearing loss in both ears, and she was scheduled to have tubes inserted into her ear canals to help with her hearing, but prior to the procedure, she developed abdominal pain and doctors discovered she had a heart murmur.
“We were told we needed to see a heart doctor. I was like, ‘OK, maybe they need to check it out before surgery to put tubes in her ears,’” Amber said.
Emily underwent an EKG, or electrocardiogram, and doctors found that Emily had atrial septal defect (ASD).
Dr. Farhaan Ahmad, a Mercy cardiologist, said ASD is a congenital heart defect involving a hole that has formed between the upper chambers of the heart. He said ASD is one of the more common congenital heart defects.
“It occurs in about one in every 1,000 births,” he said. “It is not a very common problem to happen in the general population, but as cardiologists, we do see it fairly commonly.”
Amber said doctors planned to insert a valve between Emily’s heart chambers in May, but shortly after starting the surgery, they discovered Emily also had partial anomalous pulmonary venous return (PAPVR).
Ahmad said PAPVR is a rare heart condition where one of four veins that carries blood to the left side of the heart may be connected to the right side of the heart, which can overload that side of the heart.
“It is commonly associated with ASD; generally when someone has a congenital heart problem it can be associated with other issues,” he said. “Incidents of pulmonary venous return is about 0.7 to 1.5 percent of all congenital heart defects.”
Amber said the May surgery was called off.
“They said it would take several hours, and they called us in about 25 minutes,” she said. “We were like, ‘Is our kid alive? What happened?’”
Amber said doctors explained the complication and the need for a more invasive open-heart surgery. The surgery was performed on July 9, 2024.
“I went back with her when they were sedating her,” Amber said. “I was on the bed hugging her while they had the face mask on her to put her to sleep. She whimpered and gasped and screamed her head off. Walking out of it, I was like, ‘Do I want this to happen?’ I knew it needed to happen, but it was horrible.”
Amber said she and Jeff received updates through the MyChart app that included pictures and video of the surgery being performed.
“It was interesting, but knowing it is your daughter and something could happen, it was terrifying,” she said.
Amber said the surgery was successful, adding that Emily, who is entering fifth grade at Pevely Elementary School, is not held back by her heart condition.
“It is amazing that she bounced back,” Amber said. “She can do whatever she wants within her comfort zone. At school, they know if she feels uncomfortable not to push her."
However, Amber said Emily knows not to refuse to do something just because she doesn’t want to.
“She has to at least try. If it becomes too much and she has to stop doing something, we understand,” Amber added.
Ahmad said most patients who undergo the type of open-heart surgery Emily had, especially young patients, do well.
“In a 10-year-old who has been repaired at a younger age, I would think her prognosis would be excellent,” he said. “The heart likely hasn’t had any permanent damage that is not recoverable.”
Helping Children’s Hospital
The White family, which also includes Emily’s younger sisters – Peyton, 7, and Danielle, 9 – plan to hold Emily’s Big Duck Run every July to collect donations for Children’s Hospital.
Amber White, left, with her daughters, Peyton, 7; Danielle, 9; and Emily, 10, delivering food for the snack room at St. Louis Children’s Hospital Heart Center. The family collected donations during a trunk-or-treat last year after Emily underwent open-heart surgery at the hospital in July 2024.
The family already collects donations every October during the Jeepin Friends’ trunk-or-treat event at Pevely City Park to purchase food for the hospital’s snack room designated for patient’s families. Also, every December, the family collects toys and cash donations to purchase gifts for hospital patients.
Amber said the family plans to continue those fundraising efforts.
“It is very important,” Emily said of giving back to Children’s Hospital.