An Omaha doctor adopted her four-year-old patient after the little boy was forced to endure heart surgery all alone.
Amy Beethe served as the boy’s pediatric anesthesiologist when he received treatment for his congenital heart defect at Children’s Nebraska.
‘He was sitting there all alone,’ Beethe told KETV7.
‘It took me back that this four-year-old was going to go through heart surgery, and no one was there.’
The child, named True, was born with hypoplastic right heart syndrome, a condition that caused one side of his heart to be underdeveloped.
Beethe said she fell in love with True the moment he pretended to be asleep, then shouted ‘Boo!’ when she removed his mask.
She couldn’t stop thinking about him and took her husband, Ryan, to meet him.
‘We went up and met True in the hospital, and it didn’t take long to fall in love with him,’ Ryan said. ‘We knew we needed him in our family.’
True was adopted by his pediatric anesthesiologist, Amy Beethe, after he had to undergo heart surgery alone
The Beethe family has eight children, several of whom were adopted
True was born with a congenital heart defect which required multiple surgeries and eventually will lead to a heart transplant
The couple shares seven other children, several of whom they adopted.
True underwent surgery in January 2021. After recovering, he began staying with the family a month later.
In addition to True, the couple also adopted one of his five siblings.
Two other siblings were adopted by Amy’s sister and Ryan’s brother, and another by a fellow anesthesiologist.
True loves to play games with his family and sports just like any other kid. He may wear out faster due to his condition, but he doesn’t let that stop him.
‘Keep going and don’t stop,’ True said.
Nurses at Children’s Nebraska even adopted True’s siblings to keep them together
Beethe said they’re buying time for True until he inevitably needs a heart transplant
True, now nine, has undergone multiple heart surgeries as the family continued to ‘buy him as much time’ as possible.
Eventually, he will need a heart transplant.
Congenital heart disease refers to a heart defect that is present from birth, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The condition presents itself in various forms and affects 1 in 110 babies.
Thanks to advances in treatment, approximately 90 percent of those diagnosed at birth survive into adulthood.
date: 2026-02-11 00:31:00
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