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Meet Mackenzie Bryant Conway, Arkansas
“We requested to be moved to ACH the minute we were told Mackenzie was sick,” says Dede. “My sister is a nurse there so we knew if we ever had an ill child, ACH is where we wanted them to be treated.” Mackenzie was immediately transferred to ACH and placed on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a heart-lung bypass machine that provided both cardiac and respiratory support. While Mackenzie fought for her life, Donald and Dede struggled with every parent’s nightmare – the fear of the unknown. “The most difficult thing about being in the hospital was not knowing if our child would survive, or if she did, what lasting effects the ECMO and two brain bleeds would have on her,” says Dede. Mackenzie developed another brain bleed while on ECMO and had to be removed from the machine. On October 22, nine days after she was born, doctors gave Donald and Dede some great news – Mackenzie would live. Mackenzie was released from the hospital a few weeks later. For the next three years, she continued to visit ACH for respiratory therapy, clinic visits and other check-ups. “We were so happy with the care we received,” says Dede. “We think ACH is awesome! They not only took great care of our daughter, but they also took exceptional care of us, her parents. Everyone went above and beyond what we expected, or could even imagine.” Mackenzie has no lasting effects from the brain bleeds or the ECMO. A lifelong dancer, she plans to head to New York City and dance in Broadway productions after her graduation from Conway Christian High School, where she has maintained all As for the past nine years. 
Arkansas Children's Hospital, 1 Children’s Way, Little Rock, AR 72202-3591, (501) 364-1100 or TDD (501) 364-1184
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Mackenzie was born in 1992, and during birth, she aspirated meconium, which caused her brain to bleed. Mackenzie’s parents, Donald and Dede, knew her condition was serious, and they knew exactly where they wanted her treated – at Arkansas Children's Hospital. 