Marines Tag Toddler Waiting for Heart Transplant as Fellow Fighter
Local Marines gave a Hawaiian couple personalized identity tags for their critically ill 2-year-old son who awaits a heart transplant.
Seven Marines from a Tustin-based helicopter squadron donned their formal uniforms Friday and gave the tags and a stuffed animal to Jason and Darlene Pacheco.
The ceremony took place at Children’s Hospital of Orange County, where the couple’s son, Jason Jennette, is hooked up to life-support equipment until a donor can be found.
“We just wanted him to know that we think he is a fighter, just like a Marine,” said Cpl. David London, a member of Helicopter Squadron MAG16S4.
Jason came to the hospital late Sunday after an emergency flight from Hawaii aboard a Coast Guard C-130 transport plane. Because of the mammoth life-support system, he was unable to be transported by commercial aircraft.
Jason, who lives in Pepeekeo, Hawaii, was born with a dime-sized hole between two heart chambers that surgeons in Hawaii were unable to repair.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
