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For Panthers’ Shaq Thompson and his buddy Milo, friendship is a matter of the heart

Jennifer Graniel had no idea what was going to happen to her newborn baby boy.

Milo was born with Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), meaning he had a hole in one of the lower chambers of his heart. The doctors missed the defect during Jennifer’s pregnancy, but discovered it the day Milo was born.

There were other complications, too. Milo’s esophagus wasn’t connected with his stomach, so he couldn’t eat. And his aorta was pressing against a bronchial tube, which hindered his breathing.

Jennifer says one of the two most emotional days of her life was finding out her son would need multiple heart surgeries, the first when he was just seven months old.