TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — It’s called ventricular septal defect, also known as a hole in the heart. It’s the most common congenital heart defect and Tampa Bay Rays Manager Kevin Cash and his wife know all about it.
Ten years ago, they learned their first-born would come into this world with two holes in her heart.
“That was the worst news we had ever heard,” said Kevin Cash. “It was just devastating,” added Cash’s wife, Emily Cash. But Camden Cash was born strong, weighing seven pounds and not needing immediate heart surgery.
It wasn’t until Camden was 17 months old that doctors at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg decided it was finally time for her to have heart surgery.
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After that, the Cash’s little girl really began to thrive. She is now a very normal 10-year-old. The only thing the doctors don’t want Camden to do is play tackle football.
“She wears a monitor and we check for rhythm and different things like that and just kind of keep an eye on little things here and there,” says Emily Cash.
They didn’t document their daughter’s heart surgery or really talk about it publicly much at first.
“I think we’ve grown a little bit over the years. it’s a good thing to be able to share the story and you’re not going to have a more positive story than our daughter,” says Kevin Cash.