At 13 years old, Triston Marez was on his way to becoming an Olympic-level gymnast; however, he had one obstacle stopping him -- holes in his heart. 

“I remember the first sign of interest Triston had in gymnastics,” said Jamie Marez, Triston’s mother. “He was 2 years old and sat through a whole gymnastics program. As a little boy, he never sat down to watch TV.”  Triston has been in gymnastics since he was just 24 months old, and he began competing at age 6. 

Jamie first noticed something wrong with Triston several years ago. “He would become fatigued quickly, turn pale and have dark circles around his eyes,” Marez said.  The Marez family visited numerous doctors seeking answers to Triston’s ailment, but they weren’t satisfied with the diagnoses they received.

Last year, the family relocated from California to Missouri City, Texas, when Triston was accepted to train at the renowned Houston Gymnastics Academy with Kevin Mazeika, the Men’s National Team Coordinator for USA Gymnastics.  When he resumed training in Texas, Triston’s fatigue returned, and the family sought a diagnosis from Muhammed Numan, M.D., pediatric cardiologist at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital and associate professor of clinical pediatrics at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

“Dr. Numan had a different opinion than the doctor at another hospital had,” Marez said. “He concluded that Triston had multiple holes in his heart. It was like Swiss cheese.”  If left unrepaired, the defects could ultimately cause blood clots to the brain, stroke and even death.

Dr. Numan recommended repairing the holes with a minimally invasive, cardiac catheterization procedure using a new device called a Helex. The device is inserted by catheter through the patients’ groin and up into the heart, opening like a tiny umbrella over the holes. The Helex is a permanent implant and, over time, it will become completely covered by the patient’s own tissue.

“The healing process is fairly quick—within eight hours the patient can resume daily activities, and within two weeks, the patient can begin vigorous exercise,” Dr. Numan said. “Patients having the procedure have a shorter hospital stay, no scarring in the chest area and less pain than with open heart surgery.”

Triston already is back in the gym, competing at full power and pursuing his Olympic dream.  “Triston’s first question when he woke up from surgery was ‘when can I go back to gymnastics?’” Jamie Marez said. “I believe in fate, and I believe we are in Texas for a reason and one of those reasons is Triston’s health. As far as I’m concerned, Dr. Numan and his team saved my son’s life.”