Daniel Gibbs is back out hunting with his friends after he had open-heart surgery in November to remove a membrane located in the left atrium of his heart. It was supposed to dissolve away shortly after birth but only partially did, causing the heart to work harder to pump blood throughout the body. Chris DeBack photo
Possibilities limitless for Gibbs after surgery
Chris DeBack
cdeback@thefayettecountyunion.com
For as long as Audrey Gibbs can remember her youngest son, Daniel, has been consistently sick. She said it never failed, every spring and fall he’d develop pneumonia.
Pneumonia is an infection that inflames air sacs in the lungs, which can then fill up with fluid. It certainly isn’t life-threatening to a healthy young boy, as long as it is treated correctly. It’s far more deadly to infants and the elderly, whose immune systems are much more susceptible.
The 18-year-old, who is set to graduate in May from North Fayette Valley High School, began to run a fever one afternoon last August. Audrey didn’t think too much of it. She took Daniel to the Gundersen Palmer Lutheran Hospital emergency room, thinking that it was pneumonia. After the hospital did a chest X-ray, they noted to the mother of five that it wasn’t pneumonia, but they couldn’t pinpoint what was causing the fever.