The hero at Helmick house

Kevin Helmick walks into a room and takes up the space of a football player. You might guess his hero would have a name like Montana or Kelly or Bradshaw.

He spouts financial numbers like a ticker board on Wall Street. You would guess his hero is a Buffett or Greenspan or Branson.

No.

His hero has a familiar name. It’s Helmick.

But because of that, don’t expect a family legacy story of a World War veteran, a Depression Era survivor or an Ellis Island arrival.

Kevin’s Helmick hero won’t be in kindergarten until next year.

Preston Helmick just finished his year as the annual Heart Child for the American Heart Association. It’s a year Kevin and Amie Helmick cherished to showcase a life they cherish more.

“It’s been such a rewarding year for us,” said Kevin, president of Farmers National Bank. “We said we have to tell his story someday. We were able to showcase Preston the last 12 months. We have to bring some encouragement to other families who are living what we lived.”

What they lived was a complete blindside in 2011.

“I had a perfect pregnancy,” Amie said. “Out of nowhere, we get this diagnosis. I was like, ‘Wow! That can happen?’”

What happened was Preston had a slight heart murmur the doctor heard immediately at birth.

On Preston’s sixth day, the Helmicks were greeted with this news:

Preston was immediately being airlifted to Akron Children’s Hospital in Akron. Amie and Kevin were told to go home and pack two weeks of clothes for themselves. And get to Akron immediately.

Officially, he had hypo-plastic left heart syndrome, which is an under-developed left side.

Unofficially, he had a devastating situation.

“47 days.”

Kevin cites the number of days they spent at Akron like some sort of badge – sometimes tragic; sometimes triumphant.

Amie said the fear and panic of those first days were eased by the medical staff.

“We walked in the doors, and their first words were, ‘We have seen this before,’” Amie said.

There would be more hospital doors. Next would be University of Michigan.

Amie called it a long road of hills and valleys, and at 11 months, Preston started to regress. His heart was faltering again.

There’s a thing about Kevin you learn quickly. It’s the kind of thing you realize makes him one of the youngest bank presidents in the Valley heading a legacy institution like Farmers. The guy just locks in – whether finance or family.

The smallest mechanical valve to fix Preston’s heart was still too big for his body.

Online, Kevin found a new procedure that was being tested in Boston. He shared the information with their local doctors. It was agreed they would seek the treatment.

Preston became the 11th child in the country to receive a prosthetic valve in his heart. What he received in 2013 did not even exist in 2011. That’s the reality that makes them believers in the heart association and the research dollars generated – for experiments such as what aided them.

As the Helmicks parted ways with the lead doctor in Boston, he asked them: “How did you find out about this?” The procedure wasn’t something he was promoting yet, said Amie. Kevin said he Googled “Can kids with mechanical hearts swim.” That led him to the experiment.

“Within two to three weeks after the prosthetic, he just took off,” said Kevin.

“He’s my hero. His resiliency and passion for life – he takes it all in stride. We never have to lift his spirits. He’s always up,” Kevin said.

Swimming, T-ball, golf, piano are all things he enjoys.

The greatest gift they could give their hero was a sibling.

They were assured that what happened to Preston was a fluke, and with that, Spencer joined the family. And they are excited that in March, Spencer and Preston will have another sibling.

As they look forward, what’s behind them will always be there.

Preston’s fix is a prosthetic. It will need adjustments in time.

“It’s a lifelong journey for us. Preston has things to watch out for,” said Kevin. “What we know about these kids – they love normalcy. You give them as normal a life as you can give them. The normal is the extraordinary.”

Amie said part of that ordinary is to not burden Preston with explaining all that has happened to him. At his age, he thinks this is what all kids go through.

“One day, he will know. We want to keep him as innocent as long as we can. I want him to know he’s a miracle and that’s it,” Amie said. “At the Heart Walk, he looked up and said, ‘This is the best day of my life.’”

Todd Franko is editor of The Vindicator. He likes emails about stories and our newspaper. Email him at tfranko@vindy.com. He blogs, too, on Vindy.com. Tweet him, too, at @tfranko.