MOSES LAKE - Camp councilor Adam Heslop had his first open-heart surgery at 6-days-old.

Today the Moses Lake man tries to lead a normal life, 24 years and five more open-heart surgeries later. He also tries to help other families cope with health challenges at a kids camp with congenital heart disease. This year's camp will be held at in Aug. 15-18 at Ross Point Camp Grounds near Post Falls, Idaho.

And campers get the benefit of meeting people like Heslop, who has lived his entire life with a serious congenital heart defect.

"I grew up with it so it doesn't affect me like it affects other people," Heslop, 24, said. "They're just scars. It has its challenges but I've learned to live with it."

His heart was connected backward. Surgery was needed to reverse the aorta and pulmonary arteries. This surgery, called a transposition of the great arteries, was the first ever for Spokane doctors.

At 11-months-old, Heslop again needed open-heart surgery to replace his pulmonary valve. He had his last of six open-heart surgeries in 2007, but went into septic shock just two years later. He spent 30 days in the hospital, much of it on life support.

"They didn't expect him to live after 2009," Heslop's wife, Brianne Heslop said. "Adam has done things they didn't expect him to do. Every day with him is a blessing, because we just don't know. I knew when I married him that we didn't know how much time he had."

Doctors didn't expect Adam Heslop to be able to have children. He lives with his wife and two children, 6-month-old Lindsay and Joshua, who turns 2 soon. Both children are healthy.

Adam Heslop also works at Simplot in Moses Lake. He now sees a cardiac specialist every 6 months to a year to check his heart and ensure the replacement pulmonary valve does not need replaced.

The week of Feb. 7- 14 is Congenital Heart Defect(CHD) Awareness week. CHD is one of the most common birth defects and is a leading cause of birth-defect related deaths worldwide, according to the Congenital Heart Information Network. The majority of defects are not life-threatening, but more than a third of the cases require at least one surgical heart procedure.

To help kids in the Northwest, Beats and Rhythms, a Spokane organization, works to connect families like the Heslops affected by congenital heart disease. Heslop said many of the children have a difficult time growing up and the camp gives them an opportunity to know they're not alone.

"They want the heart kids to lead normal lives," Adam Heslop said. "Nobody tells the kids 'you can't.' They get to be kids."

Doctors and nurses volunteer their time to attend the camp, which usually lasts a few days. Beats and Rhythms was established in 2002 and this year will be the sixth year of the camp. The camp was started by a mom of a child with CHD, according to the organization's website,

"So many of the kids with CHD don't have the tolerance for a regular camp. Most of the kids have some kind of incision," said Barbara Heimbigner, a coordinator for the camp and one of the nurses who cared for Adam Heslop after his procedures.

Heimbigner said many of the children involved are home-schooled and the camp offers an opportunity for them to push themselves. Team building exercises and outdoor activities allow the children to participate in activities usually unavailable to them. Heimbigner said two cardiologists are always at the camp and all necessary emergency equipment is available.

Beats and Rhythms also holds camp fundraisers and offers support groups for families affected by CHD.