Famous People with CHD

I see a number of questions on the Net about what famous or well known people have/had Congenital Heart Defects (or have children with CHD). Some people are open about them, some people are not, and there seems to be no definitive list anywhere, so I thought I would start one.

Since I’ll be adding to this periodically, the only order this will be in is the order that I happen to come across the information.

In some cases the specific CHD is known/has been published and when it is, I will link to a medical page on the specific CHD in addition to linking the person’s name to the documentation/article that states they are a CHDer or Heart Parent.

If you have a link to an article regarding a famous person with CHD or with a CHD kid, shoot it on over on my main page, or via Twitter, or comment here so I can add them.

Famous People with a Congenital Heart Defect

• Shaun White – Olympic Snowboarder (Tetralogy of Fallot)
  
• Mark “Fight Shark” Miller – MMA Fighter/Kickboxer (Aortic Stenosis)
  
• Joe Strummer(21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002) – Clash front man, passed away due to undiagnosed CHD at 50.
  
• John Glascock(2 May 1951 - 17 November 1979) – base guitarist, Jethro Tull. Died at 28 from CHD complications.
  
• Max Page -  Child Actor and Darth Vader in VW Superbowl Ad (Tetralogy of Fallot)
  
• Tedy Bruschi - Former Patriots linebacker and ESPN Commentator (Atrial Septal Defect)
  
• John Ritter(September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) – Actor, passed away due to undiagnosed Congenital Heart Defect
  
• Paul Cardall – Pianist, Complex CHD/Heart Transplant (Paul has a great CHD Blog at http://mytricuspidatresia.blogspot.com)
  
• Brian Littrell – Member of the Backstreet Boys (Ventricular Septal Defect)
• Jessie J - Singer (Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome)
• Bret Michaels - Lead Singer: Poison (Atrial Septal Defect)
• Carroll Shelby - automotive designer, racing driver and entrepreneur (Unspecified congenital heart valve disease)

Famous Heart Parents with CHD Kids

• Bret Baier – Fox New Anchor (Son with d-transposition of the great vessels)
  
• Sylvester Stallone – Actor (Daughter with Ventricular Septal Defect)
  
• Katherine Heigl– Actress (Daughter with CHD)
  
• Matt Hammitt – Lead Singer of Sanctus Real (Son with hypoplastic left heart syndrome)
  
• Senator Ron Johnson – Junior Senator (Republican) from Wisconsin (Daughter with Transposition of the Great Arteries)
  
• Roger Rosenblatt - an American journalist, author, playwright and teacher. His book Making Toast, details losing his daughter Amy to an undiagnosed/asymptomatic CHD and the aftermath of her death.
  
• Tom Riles – Warm Up Entertainer for the Ellen show (Daughter with CHD)
  
• Charles Tillman – Chicago Bears (Daughter with Cardiomyopathy)

Please note this is a list of people that are in the public eye for something other than Congenital Heart Defects.

While I do report on/share those “sudden death” high school and college athletes who’s cause of death is undiagnosed CHD as well as other CHD news that is in the public eye specifically because of CHD on Tumblr, this specific list is only for those people who are in the public eye for something other than CHD but who also happen to be a heart parent or a CHD Survivor.