Dallas boy nicknamed ‘Frank Tank’ with rare heart defect is on the road to recovery

DALLAS – It’s an ordinary day that the Nystrom family doesn’t take for granted, snuggled up on the couch in their Dallas home, but days like these have always been guaranteed.

In November 2022, Frank Nystrom, then only a few days old, nearly died.

“I could tell he really couldn’t breathe,” said Sarah Nystrom, the boy’s mother.

His parents rushed Frank to Dallas Children’s Medical Center.

His temperature was an alarming 91.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

“We heard we can’t find a pulse, we can’t find a pulse. They started chest compressions,” said Eric Nystrom, Frank’s father.

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“I wanted to scream, but I didn’t want them to make me leave,” Sarah said.

Emergency room staff performed a heart ultrasound at the patient’s bedside, where doctors noticed that part of his heart had deteriorated and slightly enlarged.

“It’s actually life-threatening because it blocks the blood supply to the lower half of the body,” said Dr. Jake Jakiss, a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon at Dallas Children’s Health Center.

Frank had a rare heart defect.

After spending four days on a heart-lung machine in the cardiovascular intensive care unit, Jakisse performed Frank’s first open-heart surgery.

“So there was a little procedure that we can do called pulmonary artery flexion to balance things out right. This allowed his body to complete its recovery, especially regarding the function of the kidneys and other organs,” said Dr. Jakisse.

About a month later, Zhakisse performed a second operation.

He says that Frank will need to see a cardiologist, but he must lead a healthy lifestyle.

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His parents are grateful to everyone who looked after him on that fateful day.

“I feel like God’s hand was on Frank and really protected him from much worse,” Sarah said.

“I had to give a tight hug to a young man in his 20s who was giving Frank chest compressions for 45 minutes and he said, ‘I was just doing my job. I was just amazed. Doesn’t that mean being the hands and feet of Jesus, just doing your job and saving lives?” Eric said.

February is American Heart Month, so his parents felt compelled to share their story with other parents.

Nicknamed “Frank Tank” by his guardians for his constant strength to keep fighting.