A Peoria nurse adopted a child she cared for and their story will be featured in People Magazine.
Registered nurse Angela Farnan has spent 32 years with the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at OSF HealthCare Children’s Hospital of Illinois. Farnan loved the kids that she worked with, and one boy really captured her heart.
Two-year-old Baby Blaze was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS), a congenital heart defect. Blaze had his first open heart surgrey when he was just three-days-old and Farnan, was a part of his care team. “All of the people who have cared for him at the hospital have fallen in love with him,” Farnan said.
Blaze’s family did not live in the Peoria area, and did not have the care resources or support to provide the intensive care Blaze would need at home. Because of the care he would need, Farnan decided her’s would be a medical foster home for Blaze.
The first attempt to become a medical foster home fell through, but on December 13, 2017, Farnan got the call asking if she would be willing to medically foster Blaze until his next surgery. She had no doubt in her mind.
After Blaze’s second surgery at six-months-old, because of the complexity of Blaze’s medical care, his birth mother asked if Farnan and her husband, Rick, would take Blaze on a permanent basis.
Angela Farnan
“She made a courageous decision,” Farnan said. “We didn’t have to speak to each other, my husband and I at the same time were just like ‘Yes!'” The adoption was finalized June 8, 2018. “I believe God put us in the right place at the right time.”
With Blaze’s story, Farnan hopes to bring more awareness to congenital heart disease. “It is the number one birth defect,” Farnan said.
Farnan said being in People Magazine is humbling and hopes that their story inspires others. “That is my hope, that it does inspire people to do good and what’s right,” Farnan said.
Blaze just celebrated his second birthday in May, and Angela and Rick’s future as a family looks busy with a toddler, and giving Blaze the medical care he needs to grow.
“He is a busy two-year-old that keeps his parents on their toes. He is a blessing.”
Angela Farnan
