AHA Honors Aliso Viejo Woman With Heart of Gold

Wyatt Wesley Whittington was born on October 25, 1991, in El Paso, Texas, with two congenital heart defects. He had a transposition of the great arteries in which the two main arteries to the heart were reversed, and he had a hole in his heart. The second defect, the hole, was the reason he was able to survive and receive oxygen.

When he was whisked by the nurses minutes after the birth, his mother Gisela, better known as Gigi, knew there was a problem. When the priest walked into the maternity ward a little while later, Gigi realized that her first son was facing a life-threatening situation.

He needed a surgical operation that was so new and so advanced that it wasn’t available in El Paso, so he was flown to a hospital in Dallas. Five days after he was born, doctors performed open heart surgery to cut his arteries, reverse them and patch the hole in Wyatt’s robin egg-sized heart. That night he flat-lined and only because the surgeon had stayed with Wyatt all night was he able to save him.

The next day Gigi prayed and made a promise. “If my son survived I promised to dedicate the rest of my life to raising funds for any organization that did research on this kind of thing. I asked the nurse which organization was responsible for saving my son’s life, and she said, ‘the American Heart Association.’ ”

Twenty-one years later, Gigi Olivo continues to live up to her promise.

Last week, the American Heart Association’s Orange County Division paid tribute to Gigi and nine other volunteers for their valuable contributions to the fight against heart disease and stroke in a special reception a the AHA’s Irvine headquarters.

A two-year Aliso Viejo transplant from Texas, Gigi was honored for her fund-raising efforts for the AHA since 1991 and for being one of the top fundraisers for the AHA this past year. She also was cited for her active role in the heart health education and outreach program in the Latino communities of Orange County.

Heart disease and stroke are the nation’s No. 1 and No. 4 killers, respectively, of men and women, according to the AHA. The tireless work by volunteers who support the AHA’s programs, initiatives and events have impacted thousands of lives.

“Volunteers are the lifeblood of the American Heart Association,” said AHA Chairman of the Board Mike Bolen. “Without our passionate and dedicated volunteers, we could not reach communities throughout Orange County to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.”

Inspiration Behind the Story

Wyatt’s video story, called “Wyatt’s Mountain,” is still used today—20 years later—by the AHA for fundraising purposes. But Gigi has gone above and beyond those early days. She has written a book, called “Pump the Bear,” the story of a bear born with a broken heart who miraculously recovers and learns to live life as a happy, healthy bear. That came to her in a dream and took her an hour to write.

Gigi also has done hundreds of public speaking appearances, motivating people to care for their health, and put on events such as “Smoke Free Dallas,” and dozens of health fairs. She became involved in the AHA’s Cultural Health Initiatives to help the underserved and Hispanic population in Dallas. The biggest event she’s ever done, the Latino Health Fair, provided heart monitoring and heart health literature for more than 20,000 people—in one day.

“Sometimes in life your biggest burden is your biggest blessing,” she says. “I was blessed because (Wyatt’s) life was saved. It gave us a purpose in life to help other people. My one goal is to help prevent other families from going through what I did. A lot of things about heart disease are controllable. It’s all about educating people.”

When Gigi moved to California two years ago, she had joined the AHA task force for the western affiliate in Orange County, Calif., which also included Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii, as well as Texas. She began establishing health fairs that would educate and provide screenings for both men and women, and also to raise funds for community programs and to educate lawmakers.

One of her most recent projects took place in June with the Fifth Annual Clubcorp Charity Classic Golf Tournament and Carnival at the Aliso Viejo Country Club. The event raised $50,000 and was split three ways between Mda's Augie's Quest, the American Heart Association and the Clubcorp Employee Partners Care Foundation.

“My job is to tell my story and educate people,” Olivo said. “If they feel it and want to support the American Heart Association that’s great. It’s not a hard sell. Either you believe in this or not. Almost everybody has been affected by heart disease.”

Creating Awareness

On Tuesday, Gigi was in the Laguna Hills office of State Senator Mimi Walters, who represents California’s 33rd District. She was there to promote and educate the senator on AB1731, a bill that would establish newborn screening for congenital heart disease, the No. 1 fatal disease among infants.

Gigi said that more then 100,000 babies are born with this disease each year in the United States, and 30 babies die in California each year from undetected congenital heart disease. She wishes the screening was available when Wyatt was born.

“This is one thing we can do to save baby’s lives,” Gigi said. “I’m here to create a little awareness so the senator will support us. We want all California babies to receive this life-saving screening for congenital heart defects. It costs less than $5 to do this, and that’s a small price if you think about the life of an infant.”

As for Wyatt, he is 20 years old now and attending college in Arkansas. He wants to become a sports writer or broadcaster. “He is crazy about sports, even though he couldn’t play a lot,” Gigi said. “He’s been fine. He has yearly checkups. The one thing he may need is another surgery. As he’s growing his arteries are growing but the sutures stay the same size.The doctors just want to make sure.

Gigi Olivo, a fifth-generation Texan, has four other children, all girls, including two from her second husband Trace. They are ages 25, 24, 23 and 22 and all doing wonderful things in their lives, she said. But Gigi feels that Wyatt has given her a special purpose in life that she never thought was possible before he was born.

“It’s all because of research and the advancements they’ve made with heart disease that Wyatt was saved. I see that as a responsibility for us to continue raising funds for this cause,” Gigi said. “It’s a lifelong mission, and as long as I have a heartbeat I’m going to be talking about this.”

The individuals honored at the Volunteer Awards Reception included:

1.      Lisa Satchfield, Irvine  – Survivor Advocate of the Year

2.      Dr. Nathan Wong, UC Irvine – Community Outreach Ambassador

3.      Nubia Cervantes, Santa Ana – Youth Advocate of the Year

4.      Angeles Guererro, Santa Ana – Latino Heart Health Champion

5.      Gisella “Gigi” Olivo, Aliso Viejo – Latino Heart Health Fundraising Champion

6.      Diana Auon, Garden Grove – Office Volunteer of the Year

7.      Laguna Road Elementary, Fullerton – Jump Rope for Heart Heroes

8.      UC Irvine Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit – Teaching Garden Champions

9.      Ron Frostig & Research Lab, Irvine –  Research Partner

10.    Dr. Christopher Lay, Irvine – Research Advocate