He had 3 open-heart surgeries as a kid. Now, he’s running for Graham-Kapowsin cross country
Graham-Kapowsin High School junior Judah Van Stralen is friendly, personable, enjoys hanging out with his friends, likes sports, loves pets, works hard in school. He’s involved with his church youth group, enjoys learning about graphic design; he plays the cello.
Usually, on fall afternoons, he’s running alongside his teammates for the Graham-Kapowsin cross country team or competing against runners from another school — runners who, by and large, don’t know his story and what he’s been through.
When Van Stralen was 2 years old, he was diagnosed with congenital heart failure, with a cleft mitral valve — the valve which lets blood flow from one chamber of the heart — as well as a hole between the two upper chambers. Doctors determined Van Stralen would need open-heart surgery to fix the issues.
Nicole and David Van Stralen, Judah’s mom and dad, put their signatures onto a long list of paperwork, absolving the hospital of liability if Judah didn’t make it through the surgery. In that moment, the severity of the situation dawned on Nicole. She realized she could lose her son.
“That was super scary and hard,” she said. “When we were first told — we’re people of faith and have a strong relationship with the Lord — so I’d say that helped. There wasn’t this instant fear. The day of, having to read through and sign all that paperwork, that was super hard, for both my husband and I.”
Van Stralen made it through the surgery just fine. Even now, there are parts he remembers.
“When they had first started letting me walk after surgery, I felt like a thousand pounds,” Van Stralen said. “I kept flopping, because of all the meds I was on. … I remember all these tubes hooked up to me. They had to put a cast on me because I kept ripping them out. It was really uncomfortable.”
There was one small perk.
“I remember getting a lot of presents,” Van Stralen said, laughing.
It didn’t take long for him to recover.
“We’re sitting there in the hospital, thinking, ‘Is he ever going to be the same again, be active?’” Nicole said. “That week in the hospital, you just think, ‘No.’ But kids heal so fast. A week later, it was like, ‘No Judah, you can’t do somersaults yet.’”
Judah and his parents moved on from there, hoping that would be the end of it. But it was just the beginning.
A LONG ROAD
Judah’s parents continued to take him for annual examinations on his heart. Just before his fifth birthday, doctors discovered the repaired valve was leaking. Now, Judah would need a second open-heart surgery to address the damage.
“Hearing he needed a second surgery was kind of hard,” Nicole said. “We’re positive people, but when we heard he needed a second one, it was like, ‘Oh man, again?’ It gets a little scarier every time.”
So again, doctors operated on Judah, stitching the valve together. And for the second time, Nicole and David waited. Judah, for the second time, came through the surgery.
In a follow-up examination one week later, doctors discovered the stitched valve had torn on the other side. Nicole and David were told that, for a third time, Judah would need open-heart surgery.
“When they said he had to go back in, that was one of the low points in our lives as parents,” Nicole Van Stralen said. “Financially, too, it was hard, so it was kind of this perfect storm of a lot of things. Just knowing your son is going to have to go through that again, it was very hard.”
When his parents delivered the news to their son, who had just turned 5, he broke down in tears. He pleaded with his parents, begging them to not make him go back.
“He was devastated,” Nicole said. “I’d just have to say, being a healthy family unit helped get through all those things, trusting in God helped. We’re thankful for all the medical advancements that made this possible.”
Judah went in for his third surgery and once again, came through.
STAYING ACTIVE
Since then, Judah has been doing well. He hasn’t needed another surgery, and as of now, there haven’t been additional complications, though he’ll continue to monitor his heart’s health over the course of his life.
In middle school, doctors told him he could no longer play football, his favorite sport. He’s played a little baseball but found his niche running track and cross country for Graham-Kapowsin.
“It pushed myself, that’s for sure,” Van Stralen said. “It was pretty tiring, especially during summer training. Running a mile and having to keep it at a 7-minute pace, that was pretty tough at first.”
But Van Stralen, who said he gets winded a little quicker than most of his peers, doesn’t make excuses. He just wants to be a normal kid. Longtime Graham-Kapowsin cross country coach Ryan Zackula said it’s an inspiring story for his teammates.
“It’s a pretty good example,” Zackula said. “It’s really something he keeps quiet. He doesn’t really announce it. As the coach, I end up mentioning it and using it as an example. The kids pick up on that. They tend to maybe realize the pain they’re going through isn’t the same as the pain he went through as a kid. I get the sense they don’t complain as much after learning that.”
Van Stralen is a junior varsity runner for the Eagles, and Zackula said he’s shown immense progress during his time at the high school.
“Even before finishing races, it was just finishing a warmup run,” Zackula said. “He would have to walk on his way to the park for the workout. To get him to actually jog the warmup, complete the workouts, then complete the races, his body has adjusted. He just keeps progressing. It’s pretty cool to see.”
Van Stralen said he’s found a welcoming culture with the cross country team.
“Everyone was so inviting,” he said. “Each race isn’t so much about racing other people, it’s about racing yourself, trying to beat your last time.”
It remains to be seen whether there will be a cross country season this year, with the WIAA modifying its 2020-21 sports calendar due to the coronavirus pandemic. But rest assured, if a season does happen, Van Stralen will be out there, competing.
“I don’t want to be feeling sorry for myself all the time, doing nothing exciting,” he said. “I want to have memories, not just sit around moping.”
