Wading River family hopes for another Christmas miracle as 2nd child needs heart surgery

Everett Cotter is not even a year old, but he underwent emergency surgery Friday after doctors discovered he has an enlarged heart.

News 12 Staff

Dec 10, 2021, 9:03 PM

Updated 1,037 days ago

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Wading River girl received a heart transplant for Christmas two years ago. Now her younger brother needs heart surgery, too.
Everett Cotter is not even a year old, but he underwent emergency surgery Friday after doctors discovered he has an enlarged heart.
Doctors placed a Jarvik heart, or artificial heart, in the 11-month-old.
Wading River parents Brian and Ashley Cotter are living the same nightmare from two years ago when their daughter Ruby needed a heart transplant.
"It's going to a long surgery--similar to when Ruby got her Berlin heart," Brian Cotter says.
When Ashley Cotter was pregnant with Everett, doctors told them there was a 1% chance he would have the same heart condition as Ruby.
Everett Cotter is being treated at Columbia's Cardiac Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in New York City.
There has been support from family and friends who have sent gift cards and Christmas gifts to the family.
"The bills are going to stack up for the Cotter family--I mean, I can't even imagine what kind of expenses they have to face," says family-friend Stephanie Harding. "I think to be able to give anything you can--good thoughts, a donation--any amount can help. I know the family can use it to relieve the burden."
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the Cotters in their time of need.