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Kylie's Kids: Meet Addie

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – It's amazing the people who come out to support families when their kid is in the hospital.

For Addie, she calls her team "Addie's Army."

And they were out in full force at this year's Children's Minnesota Heartbeat 5000 walk.

It's a time for Addie's family to not only support other children's cardiovascular health, but show off how well Addie is doing after a tough start to life.

It's hard to keep up with a very busy, very active Addie.

"She's starting to get involved with gymnastics and with dance, and swimming," Addie's father said.

In between all of that, she's found time to plan her summer.

"We're going on a vacation," Addie said.

"She's very detail oriented. She's already provided a whole list of things we have to remember to take on vacation in two months," Addie's mother said.

The vacation comes two years after her last heart surgery.

Addie was born with heterotaxy, a rare birth defect that causes organs to form on the wrong side of the body. Her parents found out before she was born.

"We had the ultrasound on a Tuesday, that was probably the worst day of our lives," Addie's mother said.

"You could tell right away during the ultra sound that something wasn't right" Addie's father said.

Addie's spleen was missing, and her stomach and liver were flipped. She also had a heart defect.

"The top two chambers of her heart were missing most of the wall between them," Addie's mother said.

Heterotaxy is serious, but treatable.

Addie's gone through five different surgeries, three of them on her heart.

Now, Addie's family gets together every year to give back to the hospital that gave them their spunky four-year-old.

"That was a way for us to give back to Children's and the heart clinic," Addie's mother said.

This year marks the third appearance of Addie's Army at Children's Minnesota's Heartbeat 5000.

"It's fun every year to come back and see the same families, the same teams, how they're doing, the doctors and nurses," Addie's mother and father said.

"It's also great for us to also have that moment in time to show everyone how Addie's doing too, and how she's grown," Addie's mother said.

Learn more about the Children's Heartbeat 5000 online.

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