Blaine sisters shared the need for a new heart

ABC Newspapers | Mandy Moran Froemming

Linsey and Noel Rippy of Blaine with their daughters
Sidney (left) and Madi, both of whom received heart
transplants at the Mayo Clinic. Photo courtesy of A Captured
Moment Photography

Sisters usually swap toys, clothes and secrets.

But Madison and Sidney Rippy have also shared something quite rare – the need for a new heart.

Both Madi, 6, and Sidney, 3, have been diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy – a disease that affects the size of the heart and how it pumps. They have also both received heart transplants at the Mayo Hospital.

For parents Linsey and Noel Rippy of Blaine, the last four years have been anything but what you might expect raising a couple of little girls.

Madi’s story

Madi first got sick when she was 2 1/2 years old, while Linsey was pregnant with Sidney in October 2008.

“One day she started acting really weird, her eyes were funny and she was slumped to one side so we called an ambulance,” said Linsey.

After being transferred quickly from Mercy Hospital to Children’s Hospital, doctors performed an MRI and discovered the little girl had suffered multiple strokes.

“When they did an X-ray they found she had this enormous heart,” said Linsey.

An enlarged heart that isn’t pumping properly can throw deadly blood clots.
Read more: http://abcnewspapers.com/2012/05/30/blaine-sisters-shared-the-need-for-a-new-heart/