Name: Marlena
Age: 17
State: OH
Marlena is a friendly teen who loves watching Tyler Perry’s movies and listening to the music of J.Lo. Her favorite subject in school is math and she enjoys watching “Dancing with the Stars” on TV. Marlena’s favorite sports are baseball and football and her favorite teams are the New York Yankees and Ohio State, respectively.
When Marlena was born, her doctors only gave her a 10% chance to live, as she had a condition called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This is a congenital heart defect where the left side of the heart is underdeveloped, causing the right side of the heart to work harder to make up for the lack of blood pumping power on the left. Marlena was also born with her organs on the opposite side of her body as well as without a spleen. She has endured four angioplasties and two open heart surgeries with more very likely in the future. Marlena follows a daily medication regimen and suffers spells of dizziness, headaches and fatigue.
For her wish, Marlena wants to meet her favorite actor, Tyler Perry. Get ready to laugh, Marlena, because your fun wish is about to come true!
