Ten thousand dollars is a generous donation to the medical field no matter who it comes from. The doctors at the Mayo Clinic say it meant a little more, however, when they found out the donor was a 14-year-old boy about to go through open heart surgery. Despite Jack Long’s heart defect, he’s grown up to become an avid soccer, basketball and baseball player. And it’s actually, in part, because of new sports guidelines for kids with congenital heart defects that Jack decided to get heart valve repair surgery.

Additional Coverage: MPR

WCCO by Aristea Brady

Tags: Cardiology, Community, congenital heart defects, donation, heart valve repair, WCCO