SOLON, Ohio — Eric Boykin puts his heart on the line, not just in the many sports he loves to play, but in life. Boykin, 17, was born with three congenital heart defects and had two open heart surgeries before he was four years old. He was told by doctors he’d be lucky to even run.
“They told me to be very cautious about sports and don’t overwork your heart, don’t run too much,” Boykin said. “But I mean, I found the things I love, and I defied what they had to say.”
Boykin, a senior at Solon High School in northeast Ohio, is a decorated student-athlete. He’s the captain of his lacrosse team and made the varsity team his freshman year. He’s also been the captain of his soccer team, has earned medals in multiple sports, and thrives academically.
“Eric works really hard, and he got a 5.0 for the semester, so he was the highest-rated athlete, soccer-athlete and scholar, for the whole entire team,” said Holly Boykin, Eric’s Mom.
According to the CDC, congenital heart defects are conditions that are present at birth and can affect the structure of a baby’s heart and the way it works. They are the most common type of birth defect and impact more than 40,000 births in the U.S. each year. Some defects are minor, others, like Boykin’s, are more severe.
“I really felt, to be honest, was how long Eric was going to live,” Holly said. “When you go through open heart surgery, one of the things they tell you is that your child may not be the same or academically on point.”
But yet he is, and thanks to improvements in science and technology, Boykin’s success story isn’t rare.
“The people where we couldn’t offer much back when I started 40 years ago, had not a lot of hope and today those same patients have hope,” said Kenneth Zahka, a pediatric and adult Congenital Heart Disease cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic. “The people who were born today with those same heart defects, their prospects for their future, are really wonderful.”
Zahka is one of Boykin’s cardiologists. He said having a congenital heart defect used to be considered a death sentence, but now many are just a life sentence. Doctors are able to diagnose defects earlier and treat them at an earlier age, allowing patients to live on to become grandfathers and grandmothers.
“Many more people, many more babies are diagnosed in utero, before birth, so that those patients and their families, a plan is developed and it’s usually a multidisciplinary team plan for how we’re going to approach this immediately after birth and in the future,” Zahka said. “I don’t think that there are any defects today, heart defects, where we would say we don’t have any treatment that we think is effective and so that’s that’s been a big change over time as well.”
Boykin’s a little smaller than most boys his age and gets fatigued a bit easier, as his heart works many times harder than most. But he wants people to know that if you’re born a little different, it doesn’t define who you are.
“It’s definitely given me a confidence to push through obstacles, knowing that if I can overcome this, then I can basically overcome any obstacle that’s thrown at me,” Boykin said.
Boykin said he will probably have to have another surgery eventually and that he’s scared, but he refuses to let fear overcome him.
“How much time do I really have left to do all the things that I love before I can’t do them anymore?” Boykin said. “So I’m always trying to push myself to the limits.”
Whether it’s at his desk or on the field, Boykin gives his all in anything he does.
“He’s the definition of inspiration and defying the odds and going leaps and bounds beyond what the odds have told him that he could and couldn’t do and he’s exceeded far beyond that standard,” said Nicholas Poghen, the head coach for the Solon High School Men’s Lacrosse team. “There’s absolutely nothing that stops him. He puts his heart and mind and soul into everything he wants.”
The Boykin family is constantly grateful to science, technology, his previous team of doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, and his current team of doctors at The Cleveland Clinic.
“I trust the science,” Holly Boykin said. “I trust the professionals that know so much more than I do. I trust the technology, that we’re moving forward and so I have a lot of faith.”
Boykin always encourages others to not lead life with fear, but with love. His motto is, “live for today, not tomorrow.”
“I just want to do as much as I can with the time that I know that I have, which is today,” Boykin said.