Roxi Good, mother to Felix Good, recounts her experience a year and a half ago when her son became incredibly sick. That ultimately forced her and her husband, Ashlin Good, to take him to the hospital.

They discovered Felix had dilated cardiomyopathy, which caused his heart to later completely collapse, forcing him to have a Berlin Heart to keep him alive until heart replacement surgery. Felix was on ECMO for only a little while between, since children have many risks when it comes to being on ECMO.

The entirety of the story follows Roxi and Felix’s relationship and what being a mother means to Roxi — even during troubling times.

Melanie Velasquez is a senior majoring in journalism in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. This story was produced during the annual Woodall Weekend Workshop in 2023.