Meet Benjamin Zachariah Ruiz-Esparza | Join Team Benny!

Benjamin Zachariah Ruiz-Esparza, otherwise known as "Benny", is a miracle.

Benny was born with a Congenital Heart Defect. His diagnosis is Double Outlet Right Ventricle with Subaortic Ventricular Septical Defect, Supraventricular Tachycardia, Dextrocardia, Heterotaxy with Asplenia and Malrotation and Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome. In simple terms, Benny has a large hole between the both ventricles. He can go into episodes where his heart can beat up to 260 beats per minute. His heart and stomach are on the right side of his body. His intestines are not rotated properly and can twist and he has no spleen.

This sweet baby boy is about to undergo a life-saving surgery.

You'll want to join TEAM BENNY as The Crackerjack Shack proudly rallies around this cute little guy as he faces incredible health challenges! Your purchase of a Team Benny t-shirt will help offset a mountain of medical expenses!

This is Benny's story in his mother's words: 

"Our son Benny was born on July 18, 2014 with a Congenital Heart Defect. His diagnosis is Double Outlet Right Ventricle with Subaortic Ventricular Septical Defect,Supraventricular Tachycardia, Dextrocardia,Heterotaxy with Asplenia, Malrotation of the intestines and Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome. In simple terms, the aorta and the pulmonary artery both come out of the right ventricle. Benny has a large hole between the both ventricles, he can go into episodes where his heart can beat up to 260 beats per minute, his heart and stomach are on the right side of his body, his intestines are not rotated properly and can twist and he has no spleen. Since he has no spleen, Benny needs to take antibiotics twice a day for the rest of his life and we need to be extra careful he doesn't get sick so he doesn't end up in the ER.

At 3 weeks old, Benny had to get a PA band around one of his pulmonary artery to slow down the blood flow into his lungs. That is a temporary fix until he receives his open heart surgerythis May to repair the hole. He will also require an additional surgery to fix his malrotated intestines and hopefully he can outgrow his SVT. We've had a few other scares where we've had to rush him to the ER in St. Louis because of his SVT (fast heartbeat).During one of his episodes, it took 10 hours to get him back to normal heart rhythm. The Doctors had to shock his heart 3 times and drain fluid from around his heart. Our Benny is a tough fighter and will continue to fight.

Please help us raise awareness and raise funds for Benny’s Medical expenses for his open heart surgery this year.

We would love for everyone that purchases a t-shirt to wear it on the day of Benny's surgery, take a picture and send it to us so we can add it to his baby book. We will confirm his surgery date on his Facebook page Benny's Journey."

Follow Benny's story and see updates on his surgery dates at www.facebook.com/BennysJourney

Purchase your Team Benny t-shirt here : www.crackerjackshack.com/team-benny

Thanks for being apart of Team Benny! 

The Crackerjack Shack Team :)