Jorge has a heart for life

Jorge Orsonio plays, works and studies like any other fourth-grade student.

When he gets home from school, he said, he likes to "play with my toys, watch movies, play on my Kindle Fire."

Jorge's favorite movie is "Transformers" and he likes to play "Angry Bird Star Wars." Something he is really looking forward to is building a go cart with his father.

His dog, T-Bone is really big, Jorge said. And, like many 10-year-olds, he does his chores -- picking up his toys, feeding his dog and taking out the trash -- before he plays. He likes to ride his bicycle and his scooter.

But, unlike most 10-year-olds, Jorge visits a cardiologist regularly.

He was born with ventricular septal defect, a hole in his heart, his mother, Crystal Zuniga-Marquez, said.

"When he was born (in Clarksville) ... the second day, he stopped breathing," Marquez recalled. "He turned blue."

Mrs. Marquez was 17 when she gave birth to her first-born, an 8-pound, 9-ounce baby boy. For the first 24 hours, everything seemed fine. But then, life changed for the Marquez family.

"I didn't think he was going to make it," she said, recalling that she had a severe headache and slept in the waiting room for several nights before moving into the Ronald McDonald House, where she stayed for several weeks, at Arkansas Children's Hospital.

"I don't know what I would have done without them (people at Arkansas Children's Hospital). It was a couple of days in, when they realized I'd be there for a while. I was sleeping in their waiting room," she said. She said she was brought a breast pump, given three meals a day and provided with a place to freeze the milk to save for Jorge.

Although she could touch him, she couldn't cradle him in her arms much because he was hooked to an EKG at all times and there were cords attached to his brain measuring brain wave activity. "It was hard because I couldn't cradle him."

"My husband was a trooper, he had to go back to work," she said, adding that her mother, too, was very supportive.

"It was very terrifying for me," she said, explaining that her newborn son was having seizures and was flown to Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock where he spent the next month. She said he had a third-degree hemorrhage to the brain, affecting the left temporal lobe.

She was released from the hospital in Clarksville to join her son in Little Rock. "My eldest brother lived in Little Rock. I had to sign papers so he could make a decision if he had to until I could get there."

"During that process, they discovered the VSD."

For the first year of his life, Jorge and his parents visited Arkansas Children's Hospital regularly. Now, he only goes once a year.

Although it was originally thought he would have to have surgery to correct the hole in his heart, he hasn't. The hole hasn't gotten any smaller, but as his heart has grown, it seems to get smaller, his mother said.

Jorge is participating in Hoops for Hearts, a fundraiser of the American Heart Association, at Pea Ridge Intermediate School. His personal goal was to raise $10. There are prizes associated with funds raised.

"When I was born, I did have a hole in my heart," Jorge said. "It is healing up a little bit. I was sick and had to fly in an airplane."

He said shooting hoops is "kinda hard to do," but he's looking forward to it."I'm playing soccer. It doesn't bother me anymore," he said of the hole in his heart.

He plays soccer and has since he was in kindergarten. His cardiologist warned his mother to watch for heart palpitations or shortness of breath, but said he could play.

"Because of that bleed on his brain, the neurologist on staff at the time told me he may never be able to walk, talk or change himself," Marquez said. "But, he was crawling at 5 months, running -- literally running -- at 6 months. He did have a delay in speech and didn't speak clearly until he was 3."

"I just keep comparing where they said he could be with where he is now," she smiled, adding that he does still have occupational therapy, just to increase some of his skills, and that he does have difficulty with his memory. "It's hard getting AR (Accelerated Reading) points when he has memory issues."

Marquez said there is a history of juvenile seizures in her family and when she became pregnant with her second child, she was sent to a specialist for an entire panel of tests. She said Mia, now 3, does not have health problems.

Jorge is the son of Crystal Zuniga-Marquez and Francisco Zuniga. He has a 3-year-old sister, Mia.

Andrea Rickets, Pea Ridge school physical education teacher, said that over the years there have been from 38 to 118 children involved in the fundraising events for the American Heart Association. This year, they have raised $2,800 so far, she said.

Ricketts said there are students at Pea Ridge who have had heart surgeries and some students even talk about having had holes in their hearts. She said the children have fun and learn about giving through both Jump Rope for Hearts and Hoops for Hearts.

To donate, Ricketts said go online to the American Heart Association and find Pea Ridge.

Jorge wrote on his mother's Facebook page: "I'm participating in Hoops for Heart, a fundraiser for the American Heart Association. Will you please donate a few dollars and a few minutes and a few dollars to support me? My goal is $10 and mom has given me $5. can someone else help me please? This is important to me because I have VSD (Ventricular Septal Defect) and i know how important a healthy heart is."

Donations can be made in Jorge's name through Thursday, Feb. 27, when Jorge's class will have its fundraiser.