James's Profile

James was born on Sept. 19, 1993, in a small rural hospital in Livingston, Montana. Within hours of his birth an observant nurse noticed he was having difficulty breathing and a chest x-ray was ordered. A pediatrician came in and told us that he had a murmur and there was some fluid surrounding his lungs. He was life-flighted to Salt Lake City, UT that evening and eventually diagnosed with aortic stenosis. When he was 4 we went back to Salt Lake to balloon open his valve via catheter. It was very successful. For the last 12 years he has been symptom free but the yearly echos showed that he was having regurgitation that was getting worse. Because his cardiologist said he should not be in competitive sports he started playing the fiddle when he was 9. He was hooked. Just 2 years after he played his first song (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star) he won the National Fiddle Championships in his age division, and 2 years later he won the Jr. division as a 13 year old (13-17 yr. olds). He has gone on to achieve many awards in old-time fiddling, classical and jazz. After experiencing fatigue, heart palpitations, and near fainting with exercise over the last year, he is scheduled to have open-heart surgery to repair his aortic valve at Boston Children's with Dr. Del Nido on May 10, 2011. In James' words, "I am looking forward to attending music school next fall with new energy that I expect as a benefit from this surgery. In all of this I am trusting in God wholeheartedly. He made me this way for a reason and I am excited to discover all that He has planned for me.