Jacksonville, Florida, March 5, 2008 -- Two children from Grenada with severe congenital heart conditions have traveled to Jacksonville with their mothers to seek care through Patrons of the Hearts, a non-profit organization formed to create an endowment to help underprivileged children with complex congenital heart problems who live in developing countries. Children are brought to Jacksonville for medical and surgical treatment by pediatric subspecialists affiliated with Wolfson Children's Hospital (Wolfson) and the University of Florida/Jacksonville.

Both Grenadian children, whose lives were threatened by their heart conditions, were identified by Gerald Angoff, MD, a cardiologist who volunteers with the Children's Health Organization for Relief, Education and Service (CHORES). CHORES is a Jacksonville-based, non-profit organization comprised of pediatric cardiologists, nurses, therapists and other pediatric professionals health care professionals who have provided care to Grenadian children with heart and other conditions for more than 19 years.

Four-month-old Anthony Daniel, who lives in St. David's Parrish in Grenada, suffers from severe pulmonary valve stenosis, a narrowing of the valve that causes the heart to work much harder to get blood flow to the lungs.

Three-month-old Andrew Harris, who lives in St. George's Parrish, was born with Tetralogy of Fallot, which is a hole between the two ventricles and severe pulmonary stenosis This serious condition can cause a chronic lack of circulation, causing the child to be cyanotic, or blue in color, due to lack of oxygen.

Both boys had examinations, echocardiograms and EKGs on March 4 at the . Herman and Mary Virginia Terry Children's Heart Center at Wolfson.

Daniel had a cardiac catheterization procedure at Wolfson with pediatric cardiologist Robert English, MD, on March 5. "He had a balloon valvotomy, which stretched his pulmonary valve open," says George F. Armstrong, Jr., MD, a pediatric cardiologist who was a founder of CHORES and past chief medical officer for Wolfson. "Anthony's recovery is expected to be short."

Harris has a more serious problem that will require open-heart surgical repair by pediatric cardiovascular surgeon Robert Dabal, MD. "Dr. Dabal will do a patch closure of the ventricular septal defect [hole between the chambers of the heart] and will surgically open the narrowed pulmonary artery."

The children will stay in the Ronald McDonald House with their mothers during their stay in Jacksonville.

Daniel and Harris are the fourth and fifth children from Grenada to receive help from Patrons of the Hearts. Kanye Lewis, then 3 and also suffering from Tetralogy of Fallot, came to Wolfson Children's Hospital in 2006 for open-heart surgery. In 2007, two children from Grenada came to Wolfson for open-heart surgery. All are now healthy.

Because of the strong relationship between CHORES, the Grenadian Heart Foundation, Wolfson Children's Hospital and Patrons of the Hearts, 10 Grenadian artists donated works of art for Patrons of the Hearts' annual fund-raising event, Artscapade. The event was held on October 25, 2007. The works donated by the artists from Grenada were featured in a "Grenadian Corner" at the event and raised more than $1,700 for Patrons of the Hearts to benefit other international children.

Grenadian art activist Susan Mains said, at the time of the donation, "We are very proud to have a part to play in helping to raise funds for these operations for children. While the Patrons of the Hearts program has helped children from five countries, Grenada is the first of those countries to participate by donating art for this fund-raising auction. It speaks well of the social consciousness of our artists, and the power of art in a community."

Dr. Armstrong, who has served with CHORES since it was started in 1989, says it is wonderful to see children the organization has identified getting the care they need. "It's really gratifying to see the children we've treated over the last 19 years as healthy teens and adults when we return to Grenada," he states.