Jan 16, 2009 - 11:16 AM

By Jillian Follert

DURHAM -- A gala fundraiser planned for Valentine's Day weekend will be all about hearts, but not the kind you find on greeting cards.

On Feb. 13, Laura Celsie will be raising awareness of congenital heart defects (CHDs), while raising money for her nephew Wyatt -- a 20-month-old who has been fighting for his life since the day he was born -- and other children like him. (Editor's note: Wyatt's last name has been left out for privacy reasons, at the request of the family.)

Wyatt came into the world two weeks early in April 2007 and was rushed from Ajax to the Hospital for Sick Children, where he was diagnosed with DiGeorge Syndrome and a long list of heart defects, including pulmonary atresia and atrial septal defect.

"They didn't think he would survive the ambulance trip from Ajax to Sick Kids, but as it turns out, he's unbelievably tough," said Ms. Celsie, a Whitby resident. "Even after everything he's been though, he has a smile that would light up any room."â?¨ The little boy has spent 18 of his 20 months at Sick Kids, where he has undergone five open-heart surgeries and two cardiac catheterizations. He is tube fed, has two airway stents and tracheotomy and is dependent on a ventilator and oxygen.

In addition to a team of doctors and nurses, Wyatt is watched over constantly by his mom, a single parent who spends every day at her son's side, leaving only to catch a few hours of sleep each night at the nearby Ronald McDonald House.

"She's trying so hard to remain so positive but it really wears her down, she worries so much," Ms. Celsie said of her sister.

About one in 70 babies in Canada is born with a CHD, making it the most common birth defect. Some children can be treated with surgeries or transplants but even in the best-case scenario, a transplanted heart only lasts for about 10 years.

Wyatt isn't a candidate for heart transplant because he would also need new lungs, and lung transplants can't be done on children. Doctors don't know if he will live to adulthood, when a transplant might become possible.

That's why his family is so determined to raise funds for the cardiac critical care unit at Sick Kids.

"In the last 20 months we've gotten to know a lot of other 'heart families,' " Ms. Celsie said. "We've seen some children recover and go home and we've seen a lot who didn't make it."

The gala takes place Friday, Feb. 13, at Tosca Banquet Hall, 800 Champlain Ave. in Oshawa, with cocktails at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6 p.m.

Tickets, which are $100 and must be purchased by Feb. 5, include a five-course meal, open bar, live entertainment by singer Georgia Higgins and comedian Frank Spadone, as well as a silent auction and door prizes.

For tickets, e-mail wyatts-warriors@hotmail.com or call Laura Celsie at 289-404-1021.

A trust fund has been set up at Scotiabank to help Wyatt and his family, transit #37572, account #0259586.