Tom Wall Classic
Eight-year-old Donnie Handler III was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect at birth which required surgery in order for him to live. The surgery was successful and now for the eighth straight year, his father, Donnie Handler II, is putting on a golf tournament in Ocean Springs to raise awareness for CHD with the Mended Little Hearts Program.
Congenital heart defects, also known as CHD, are the leading cause of birth related deaths in children under a year old. Donnie Handler III was diagnosed with CHD just six hours after he was born. “It was pretty frightening. They had to teach us CPR and things like that before we could bring him home because we had to wait for him to gain some weight.”
After 14 hours, little Donnie had successful surgery. His father was inspired to raise CHD awareness by starting the Tom Wall Classic Golf Tournament with the Mended Little Hearts Program eight years ago. “It was one of the hardest days of my life, but he came out and here he is today.”
One out of 110 babies is born with some sort of heart defect. There are up to 1.3 million people alive today with heart defects and half of them are under the age of 25. “That’s what we are trying to get out there to everyone and in the hospitals. It’s more common now than what it used to be.”
Last year, the tournament raised over $20,000. This year, sixty golf teams are expected with one of the golfers being little Donnie himself. “You really get to move your arms around playing golf,” said Donnie. “If you don’t like to do anything else with your arms, you can just play golf.”
The tournament will take place Saturday, June 16th at Gulf Hills. Little Donnie plans to prove his golfing skills are better than his dads.
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