About Us

Welcome to the Brady Sue McDonald Memorial Foundation page, we are Emily and TJ McDonald, this foundation and site were made in honor of our daughter Brady Sue, who we suddenly lost during her treatment for Tetralogy of Fallot with Pulmonary Atresia.


We have started this foundation in memory of Brady, inspired by the care, kindness and compassion we received as a family by the nurses and social workers of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. We hope Brady’s and our story will encourage future nurses and social workers to show patients and families the same care and compassion shown to us and Brady.


We live in Western New Jersey, where Emily owns a small family business and TJ is a dedicated firefighter. We're raising our playful and curious one-year-old daughter, Winnie, and have a lovable dog named Jax. Whenever we can, we love spending time with friends and family in New Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee and down the shore. We also make the most of our time by traveling whenever possible, enjoying new adventures while balancing work and family life.


We as a family are extremely fortunate to have such a fierce and strong support system. Every day having to make not only increasingly complex medical decisions on behalf of your child, but also the mundane, down to where to eat dinner, is extremely taxing on families. We all have lives outside of the hospital that need to be managed and maintained, and it is extremely easy to become overwhelmed. Our mission as a foundation is to be a part of the support systems of other families who are experiencing similar situations to our own. We are giving funds to families to help ease the strain and stress of relocation expenses, allowing them to focus on what is truly important, their child's health. We want to make a difference in the lives of others, as Brady, in her short time on this earth, made a profound difference in ours.


Thank you for visiting our page, and we wish you all health and wellbeing.


Emily, TJ, and Winnie McDonald

Brady's Medical Story

Brady’s heart defect was discovered during her 20-week in utero anatomy scan. We went to the appointment hoping for ten toes and ten fingers and to keep the gender secret as we wanted it to be a surprise. Our pre-natal doctors discovered that there was anatomy missing from the heart, and immediately sent us to a fetal cardiologist, who then broke the earth-shattering news. A few days later we travelled to Philadelphia and met with who would be Brady’s cardiac team, and Emily’s delivery team. Over the next 20 weeks, we worried about the unknown, and prepared ourselves to relocate to an unknown city for an unknown amount of time. We had temporary housing with family for the week leading up to the due date, and hotel reservations a short walk from the hospital for after. On the morning of August 20th, 2022, Emily went into labor, before we could relocate closer to Philadelphia, but we were as prepared as we could be, the car was packed, and we were on our way. A short 8 hours after arriving at CHOP, our little Brady Sue was born.


We stayed by her side in the ICU for two days, but with COVID-19 restrictions, only two family members could visit at one time. It was hard not being able to have everyone there, but we made the most of every moment with her, curating playlists and reading books. We even took on the task of early immersion into the world of Harry Potter by reading the Sorcerer’s Stone.  On the third day of the ICU, the decision was made to use a stent instead of surgery, which gave us some hope.


The procedure went better than expected, and Brady stayed sedated on a ventilator overnight. This less invasive option meant we could go home a week earlier than we thought, a small but important relief. On Thursday afternoon, when she was taken off the ventilator, we were finally able to hold and feed Brady without all the tubes. She was calm, eating and sleeping like a typical newborn, and in that moment, it felt like we were finally getting back to the life we’d been dreaming of. Through it all, Brady’s strength and determination left us in awe. She was indeed a fighter.


Brady’s doctors were impressed with her progress and optimistic about moving her to a regular ICU, with hopes of her being discharged in a few days. However, throughout the day, we noticed she seemed fussy, would fall asleep while eating, and sounded congested, though her vital signs remained stable.


The following morning, we found a tense situation when we arrived early. Brady’s right lung had collapsed for an unknown reason. Despite efforts to help her breathe, the doctors decided to intubate her to stabilize her and give her lungs time to heal. Emily and I stepped out to let the medical team work, and after updating the family, we returned to find things had become even more chaotic. Something had gone wrong, and now Brady went into Cardiac Arrest. The devastation, and complete terror that came rushing like a tidal wave should never have to be experienced by any parent. Forty-five minutes of working on Brady, we were approached by a doctor asking if we would sign off on Brady being placed on ECMO, and without hesitation we agreed.


Over the next couple of days, the unknowns were still unknown, the downs outweighed the ups, but there was always a glimmer of happiness within the pod area: Brady’s nurses. Emily and I had spent a week without sleep, exhausted, we arrived at the CICU one morning, to find that the nurses had made Brady two hair bows out of medical tape, this tiny little gesture was what Emily and I needed to regroup and rally around hope. From that day forward, the bows became more creative, and became the talk of the CICU, everyone knew about Brady’s Bows. Although small, it was a much-needed distraction for us.


While we all held onto optimism for the best news possible, our worst fears came true in a family meeting with Brady’s team. Brady had suffered severe hypoxic injuries to her brain. The doctor’s outlook was grim, that if they removed the ventilator, Brady would not survive, we still believed Brady would have the strength to breathe on her own.


Brady was moved to a larger, more private room, allowing more family members to visit. The hospital priest then christened her, and we spent the day with our closest friends and family visiting and meeting Brady. Later that night, Emily and I were able to sleep in the same room as Brady for the first time since she was born.


On the morning of September 11th, the decision was made to take Brady off the ventilator, and to see if our little girl could beat the odds stacked against her. Unfortunately, Brady’s body had been through too much in her 22 days of life. Brady passed away peacefully and would not be suffering anymore.

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