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Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Family aims to share story to help others
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In Nordic, her first name means “divinely protected.” In African, it stands for “safe and secure.”
So when Selma Wood’s parents talk to their 2-year-old daughter and call her name, they’re reassuring her, telling her life is going to be just fine.
Selma has heterotaxy, the abnormal placement of the organs. It’s a complex condition that creates heart defects. Among other issues, Selma’s septal wall is deficient, and she suffers from pulmonary stenosis, a narrowing of the artery.
“She’s had two of the standard surgeries, and during one of those she had to go [right] back to the operating room for the surgery again,” said Peggy Strieper, a pediatric cardiologist who’s part of Selma’s medical team at Children’s Sibley Heart Center.
“She’ll need a fourth one as well.”
Parents Tommy and Stephanie Wood of Lawrenceville found out about Selma’s condition while she was still in the womb, about 20 weeks old.
“It floored me,” Tommy Wood, 37, told me in an e-mail.
“I remember telling my wife: I just hope I’m strong enough to stand by this little girl. She deserves every chance, and I don’t want to fail her with a bad decision or lack of faith.”
Now he wants to share Selma’s story. Wood wants to produce a documentary about pediatric congenital heart defects, and he already has a working title: “Someone Else’s Life.”
Besides a keen interest in the subject, Wood has the professional background. He owns Stimulus Inc., a Grayson-based video production company that does graphic design and small-scale videos.
As part of the documentary, he’d like to create a TV version of the 90-minute film as well as a mini-version that would be made available for parents who find themselves in similar circumstances. He wants the documentary to appear on educational channels, become a DVD and be distributed at hospitals and medical offices.
To make this film a reality, though, Wood needs help. Yours. He needs volunteers to help with filming and to maintain the Web site. And he needs money — corporate and individual sponsors to cover the $60,000 projected cost. He has some commitments, including comedian Jeff Foxworthy of Alpharetta. He’s agreed to narrate the film.
“A film like this is not terribly expensive, but it still costs money to get the gear and to keep the focus on the project,” he said. “We’re hoping to find sponsors that would want to ‘partner’ in the creation of the project. We need about $10,000 to start the first wave of production and a projected $50,000 more over the next 12 to 18 months.”
I remember when my wife and I got the news that Miles (Latin for “soldier”) had a congenital heart defect. Transposition of the great vessels, doctors told us. May as well had been talking Greek. Nothing made sense. All we knew was that our son, barely a day old, was gravely ill. When his condition was diagnosed nearly 12 years ago, it sure would have been nice to pop in a video and see families, children and doctors sharing their success stories, their experiences.
Today he’s fine, a miracle child who loves to read, wears a size 9 1/2 shoe and shoots a sweet jump shot. I share his story often to help others. Selma’s journey can, too.
“The day Selma was diagnosed, we went home with tears and fears,” said Wood, whose project is in preproduction stages.
“It would have been real nice to have a video of other people who have gone through this. We want to create the video to give hope — the best catalyst for the healing of the child.”
For more information, visit http://www.someoneelsesfilm.com. Contact Tommy Wood at tommy@stimulusfilms.com. 404-281-1174. Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail: rbadie@ajc.com.
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