Hunter Binkley had his first birthday on June 10, 2001. Children have birthdays every day, so why is this one so special? It was special because during the first year of his life Hunter defied the odds over and over again. It was not an easy road. Back in October 2000 A1C Scott Campbell wrote a story about a family staying at Fisher House after their infant son, Hunter, was sent there from Germany. Just to recap, baby Hunter was born 3 months prematurely to Pfc Sandor Binkley and his wife Barbara, who were stationed in Hohenfels, Germany. At two weeks old he had his first heart surgery to clamp off an artery when his lungs were having difficulty processing air. After the surgery his heart began to race and he started turning blue. Doctors realized his left lung had collapsed. Hunter and his parents were flown to Munich where doctors there tried to repair the damaged lung by using a catheter.

The prognosis was not good. As he continued to struggle and his body weakened, the German doctors seemed to give up hope. His parents fought to have him sent by air-evac back to the U.S. By the time he reached National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda his condition was serious. Doctors at NNMC administered a blood transfusion (his ninth) and within 24 hours Hunter was improving. Due to swelling and scar tissue, an intabation tube was inserted to assist with his breathing. About this time, Hunter had had enough. He pulled the tube out. It was reinserted. He pulled it out again, again, and again. Miraculously Hunter began breathing on his own without assistance from the intabation tube.

As of last October when the story was originally written, Hunter has undergone three heart surgeries and two catheterizations. During this time the Binkley family stayed at Fisher House at Andrews AFB until Sandor Binkley was transferred to Fort Belvoir, Virginia. As the manager at Fisher House, I witnessed the impact the Binkley family had on other guests staying there. Hunter’s progress was charted, discussed, and prayed over by all the families who shared this temporary home with him. Barbara Binkley told me how touched she was by all the prayers and good wishes from members of her family, her church back in New York, and all the people they met as a result of Hunter’s condition.

Since October, Hunter has continued to have his struggles. During a routine cardiology appointment his doctors realized that Hunter was experiencing heart failure. He was referred to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for a heart catheterization. During the procedure Hunter went into cardiac arrest. After two hours of trying to restart his heart with chest compressions and medication inserted through the catheter, Hunter was given his last rights. He finally responded to efforts to restart his heart, but each time he woke up he went into cardiac arrest. His pulmonary artery had detached from his heart. It would be necessary to keep him in a drug-induced coma until repairs could be made. His chance of survival in his present condition was 0%. His chances even with surgery were slight, since doctors couldn’t be sure how extensive the damage was until they could see it during surgery. It was decided that Hunter would be allowed to wake up from his coma for ten minutes so his family could say good-bye in the event that he did not survive the surgery. On January 12^th, Barbara and Sandor Binkley held their son for what might be the last time.

Five hours later doctors had constructed an artery from tissue from the sack surrounding Hunter’s heart. During the surgery Hunter was connected to an ECMO (heart-lung bypass machine) for 71 minutes and his heart was stopped for 46 minutes. True to his spirit, Hunter exceeded his doctor’s expectations for recovery. He went home after only two weeks and is doing well. He sustained no organ damage during his two hours of cardiac arrest.

The Binkley family celebrated Hunter’s first birthday on June 10, 2001. I went to visit them shortly after that. Hunter is a beautiful and happy little boy. He is gaining weight and only requires oxygen at night now. He looks very much like his father. For his birthday Barbara and Sandor Binkley asked for donations to be made to the Spare Key Foundation. This organization assists families with critically ill children, who face many expenses, to make their mortgage payments and alleviate the fear that they will lose their homes. They also wish to thank Ronald McDonald House in Munich, the Fisher House at Andrews AFB, doctors and nurses at Bethesda NNMC and Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, and all those who cared for and prayed for Hunter.