Bill gives a congratulatory hug after Isaiah’s piano recital.
Bill Louth was so thankful to Akron Children’s for curing his son’s heart condition that he wanted to give back. He did that by joining the Akron Children’s Information Services Division as a server engineer.
The heart issues begin
At age 7, Isaiah Louth’s heart started racing. Nothing specific trigged the episodes, and heart issues weren’t present on either side of the family. Isaiah would wake up in the middle of the night with a racing heart. “We’d take him to the emergency room, and sometimes, his heart would be back to normal by the time we got there. Other times, it continued to race,” Bill recalled. “One time, his heart rate was over 240 beats a minute. He was in pain, and he asked if he was going to die.”
Isaiah’s racing heart led to sleep problems, tiredness and performance issues in school. Upon being referred to the Akron Children’s Heart Center for testing, Isaiah was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome.
Isaiah’s diagnosis and treatment
WPW is a congenital heart defect, meaning it is present at birth. People with WPW have an extra pathway for electrical signals to travel faster than usual between the heart’s upper and lower chambers, causing a fast heartbeat. Serious heart problems can occur, including rare cases of sudden cardiac death in kids and young adults.
Isaiah and his mom, Julie, when he had a heart ablation procedure in 2019.
Dr. John Clark, pediatric cardiologist and director of the Akron Children’s Pediatric Arrythmia Center, recommended a radiofrequency catheter ablation for Isaiah. “This procedure works well for patients with irregular heartbeats, whether they’re beating too slowly or too fast as in Isaiah’s case,” Dr. Clark explained. “We insert a catheter into a blood vessel and direct it to the heart. A small electrode delivers radiofrequency energy to destroy a small area of heart tissue. ‘Burning’ the tissue creates a scar that blocks the extra electrical pathway and corrects the heart’s rhythm. Because the procedure is so precise, there’s no damage to the rest of the heart tissue.”
Isaiah had the procedure on Feb. 2, 2019. “It was a difficult thing to be in that situation with Isaiah, but we knew we were with possibly the best doctor in the world to take care of this issue,” Bill said. “Dr. Clark and his team had calm assurance that they understood the situation and knew how to fix it. This is what they do, and they love it.”
The Louth family enjoys spending time together, whether in nature or playing games at home.
‘Akron Children’s cured my son’
Isaiah came out of recovery telling jokes and entertaining The Heart Center staff. He needed to stay overnight in the hospital for monitoring. That’s when Bill met Akron Children’s Chief Human Resources Officer Rhonda Larimore, who was touring the heart unit. “I told her Akron Children’s just cured my son,” Bill recalled. “I took Rhonda’s business card. I was so grateful for the care Isaiah received that I decided I wanted to work for Akron Children’s.”
“More childhood, please”
At the one-year mark after the ablation procedure, Isaiah got released from heart follow-up care. “Akron Children’s has the ‘More childhood, please’ campaign – and here we are,” Bill said. “Akron Children’s gave my son his childhood back. Instead of worrying about dying and being in pain, he’s got a completely normal life. He’ll be 13 soon, and he’s a well-rounded kid. He plays on the church soccer team, takes piano lessons and art classes, loves to read and does well with math.”
Isaiah loves to run, and he also plays soccer.
Bill has been an Akron Children’s employee for more than five years. Even when work is stressful, he focuses on the bigger picture. “I come to work and feel blessed to work for an organization like Akron Children’s,” he said. “You can get caught up in work deadlines and stress – and you can lose sight of the impact we make on patients and families. It’s wonderful stuff that we’re doing. You don’t have to be a doctor or clinical staff member to impact the kids we care for.”
Dr. Clark agrees. “We are a hospital – a community of people who collectively take care of children,” he said. “Every single job is important in that mission. We all can be proud of the care we provide.”
Are you interested in joining the Akron Children’s team? Visit our careers’ website.
