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Premiered May 30, 2004 | Full Schedule

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"'They say I cannot let him cry.' This was my life the first four months of my son's life until one day when he was 4 months old he turned blue."

Submitted by: Patricia Greenwald, Novi, MI

"They say I cannot let him cry." This was my life the first four months of my son's life until one day when he was 4 months old he turned blue. My son was born with Tetralogy of Fallot and the doctors at the University of Michigan Mott's Children's Hospital with the knowledge of the pioneers in your story saved his life! I want to thank HBO for the powerful story of those wonderful men who saved, even in the year 2001, my son's life. I watched with tears and awe of their work. After the movie I crept in my son's bed, and just laid and watched him sleep...my hand on his chest...thanking the lord for giving the men and women the determination to save these children, and thanking HBO for bringing it to the public. Congenital Heart Defects are more common than we know. And there are amazing people out there that now can help our babies. Again, thank you for a wonderful film and story. God Bless every one of you, and most importantly the men and women this story is based on.
Blalock, Taussig and Thomas
"I recall Dr. Taussig drawing a diagram...to indicate where the incision would be made."

"My sister and I were both diagnosed as, 'Blue babies' at birth."

"I...appeared in Life Magazine with 'Anna' the dog."

"This is the story of my encounter with Dr. Blalock."

"Vivien Thomas was my Great Uncle."

"I was able to know my brother."

"My mother was Dr. Blalock's chief surgical nurse."

"I became a patient of Dr. Blalock in the summer of 1955."

"I have vivid memories of Dr. Blalock coming in to check on me."

"Every doctor...looked at his chart said, 'Oh, you're a Blalock baby!'"

"I was the 263rd 'Blue Baby.'"

"The story was fascinating, but so incredible I doubted its voracity."

"My sister Judy Marblewas born a blue baby in 1941."

Blue Babies
"I turned blue when I ran."

"He's a testament to these doctors who so long ago perservered and pioneered this surgery."

"It was amazing how pink she became."

"It took my mother till I was 4 weeks old to convince the doctors something was wrong."

"I did a 500-mile bicycle ride as a fundraiser last summer."

"'They say I cannot let him cry.'

"...I probably would not survive beyond 4 or 5 years old."

"We work in a field that no one cares about until they are on the table."

Congenital and Premature Babies
"...Yet each morning they grew stronger."

"Without the BT shunt... my daughter would not have made it to her first birthday."

"Without their pioneering efforts, my son would not have had a chance at life."

"My son is missing the right side of his heart."

"His first surgery took place when he was four months old."

Race Relations in the '50s
"My story involves the first group of black men to graduate from The Citadel."

"Some people believe that one person cannot make a difference."

"In Tennessee in the 1930s, there were no schools for blacks."

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