Born a Fighter
Mack came into the world with a rare congenital heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. From his very first breath, he showed us he was here to fight.
Mack was born with a congenital heart defect. Today, while he waits for a transplant at St. Laurie Children's Hospital, he reminds us all what real superpowers look like: courage, kindness, and never giving up.
Mack came into the world with a rare congenital heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. From his very first breath, he showed us he was here to fight.
Already brave beyond his years, Mack has faced open-heart surgery before his first birthday. The doctors and nurses at St. Laurie's call him their "littlest superhero" — and the name stuck.
Today, Mack is on the heart transplant list. While he waits, he giggles, he babbles, he grips every nurse's finger with a mighty grip, and he reminds his whole family that hope is a superpower too.
"He doesn't ask why me. He asks who's next — so he can cheer them on.
— Mack's mom, Erika
The Mighty Mack Foundation was founded in honor of Mack and every child like him. We exist to lighten the load on families navigating pediatric heart disease — and to fuel the research that will one day make stories like Mack's the exception, not the rule.
Meal cards, lodging, and gas grants for families living at the hospital.
Funding pediatric cardiology research at leading children's hospitals.
Every newly-diagnosed kid at St. Laurie's gets a Mighty Mack cape of their own.
For more than a year, Mack has spent most of his days at St. Laurie Children's Hospital — a place where superheroes wear scrubs, the IV poles have names, and every hallway has a story worth telling.
The cardiac team at St. Laurie's has become Mack's extended family. The nurses know exactly how he likes to be rocked to sleep. The child-life specialists know which lullabies calm him during an echocardiogram. The doctors know that no medical chart can capture how big this little kid's heart really is.
A portion of every dollar raised by The Mighty Mack Foundation goes directly back to St. Laurie's pediatric cardiology program — so the next family that walks through those doors finds the same incredible care that has carried Mack this far.
Three ways to power up Mack's mission — pick your superpower.
Help host events, assemble comfort capes, or read to kids on the cardiac ward.
Sign up →Become an organ donor. One decision can save up to eight lives — including Mack's.
Learn how →Doctors, nurses, and a roomful of homemade-caped supporters marched down the cardiac hallway. Best first birthday ever.
To the parents who sew them, the volunteers who pack them, and the kids who wear them: thank you. You are the league.
Our biggest research grant yet, supporting work that could change outcomes for kids on the transplant list.
Whether you want to volunteer, host an event, sew a Comfort Cape, or just stay in the loop on Mack's journey — we'd love to have you. Fill out the form and someone from the team will reach out within 48 hours.