Carolina Panthers’ Greg Olsen Gives Game Day Experience to One Lucky Family

We were pleased to include a special video appearance from Carolina Panthers’ Greg Olsen at our recent Feel the Beat event held on Nov.8. The Olsen family is a part of the HLHS community as their youngest son, T.J., was born with HLHS. During the video, Greg made a surprise announcement that he would be hosting an HLHS family during the November 30th football game between the Carolina Panthers and the Minnesota Vikings. The randomly chosen family will not only be watching the game from excellent seats, but they will also join Greg on the field before the game begins.

After the video was shown, Todd Wanek from the Todd and Karen Family Program for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome drew the names of the Smith family from Minnesota from among the HLHS families in attendance at Feel the Beat. Congratulations to Jared, Christine, Ryder and Ava Smith on this once in a lifetime game day experience with Greg Olsen!

The Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) is a collaborative network of specialists bonded by the vision of delaying or preventing heart failure for individuals affected by congenital heart defects including HLHS. The specialized team is addressing the various aspects of these defects by using research and clinical strategies ranging from basic science, to diagnostic imaging to regenerative therapies.