Boy with only half a heart competes in triathlon

This six-year-old had surprised everyone by just surviving, and now he has gone a step further by competing and completing his first triathlon.

A resident of Long Island, New York, Jack Foley was born with a rare condition called HLHS or hypoplastic left heart syndrome that caused half of his heart to stop developing while he was still in his mother’s womb.

The disease, affects normal blood flow in the body since his left atrium and ventricle could not pump blood.

It is a type of congenital heart defect due to which Jack’s left side of the heart has to do job for both sides.

The diagnosis, according to his parents who spoke to Daily Mail Online, occurred when his parents Lauren Kiefer-Foley and Rob Foley had gone for their 20-week ultrasound. It was then they were told that there was an issue with his heart development and they should meet an expert.

They were subsequently refered to Dr Emile Bacha who would then go on to operate on Jack, mere days after his birth through a planned caesarean.

By the time he was born till he was two and a half years old, Jack had three corrective open-heart surgeries which helped correct his blood circulation.

Now at six, Jack is a bright student and an avid ice and roller hockey player

In June, Jack competed and completed the Long Beach Children’s Triathlon, that saw him swim the 25-yard length of a pool, bike 475 feet around a park and then run 500 feet distance around a baseball diamond. And according to his proud mum he did it in the time any normal six-year-old would do, but with just half a heart.