I have something in common with an Olympian...

........and no it's not my athletic ability.

A rather little known fact about the most famous snowboarder in the world is that he was born with Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF).  Having 2 open heart surgeries before 1 years old, he has defied gravity for the last 8 years and not let his heart condition get in the way.

Most people had no idea he lives with his condition while completing in such a dangerous sport.  It's so unknown that one of my friends called me after watching the following video where he was interviewed ois n Larry King Live going "Did you know Shaun White had a heart condition?!?"  Yes, I did know but only very very recently.  Earlier this season, watching him compete in the X Games, I googled him and found his Wikipedia article where it mentioned he was born with TOF.

I'm glad to see him giving back to the CHD community.  He mentions on LKL that he recently donated money to a long term care facility in Memphis that allows families to stay close to the hospital while their child (brother/sister) has open heart surgery.  For someone with all that money and the ability to inspire children with his athleticism after facing something so terrifing, I give him props for talking about it and giving congential heart disease a world wide stage... AT LAST.

View the Larry King Live interview at the following link: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2010/02/23/lkl.shaun.white.cnn?hpt=C2.