Beats for Bella is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that strives to create awareness for Congenital Heart Defects (CHDs) by telling the story of our daughter Bella Borkowski. We focus on raising funds so that we can contribute to CHD Research that will allow for life saving advancements in treatment and enriching the quality of life for children with Congenital Heart Defects.
Bella was born with a severe Congenital Heart Defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome on March 18, 2013 in the Special Delivery Unit at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. HLHS is a single ventricle heart defect in which the left side of the heart does not form. This type of heart defect is fatal if untreated and requires three open heart surgeries to repair the defect, typically by the age of 3. Bella had her third and final planned open-heart surgery to complete her repair on April 4, 2016. While her repair is complete her life with a Congenital Heart Defect will never end. She needs continued cardiac care.
At Beats for Bella we work very hard to spread awareness for Congenital Heart Defects. Annually 40,000 babies are born with a Congenital Heart Defect (that is 1 in 110 babies!) Of those 40,000, 960 are born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome like our daughter Bella. Considering its prevalence CHD research is significantly underfunded. We hold a variety of fundraisers throughout the year as well as constant social media awareness projects to help spread the word about what Bella and so many other children fighting a Congenital Heart Defect go through.