Lorelei McIntyre-Brewer is a ten-year-old from Duncannon, Pennsylvania. She was born missing half of her heart, and her twin brother, Rory, passed away before the two could ever meet. She underwent major open heart surgery shortly after birth and has since then undergone 21 medical procedures including three open heart surgeries.
After her third open heart surgery, Lorelei’s lungs collapsed and she underwent a long grueling recovery where she was given a compression heart pillow to relieve the pain… but the pillow was much to big for a girl like herself. This made her think… why aren’t their smaller compression heart pillows made for children? So then at the age of 5 her mother taught her to sew and she began making compression heart pillows for pediatric open heart patients, aiding them in their own recovery’s. She named her organization Heart Hugs, and it spread like wildfire!
Heart Hugs works with children’s hospitals, orphanages and families to provide these pillows at no cost for patients and families through the kindness of volunteers around the world that help Lorelei ensure that no child is turned away. Her non-profit organization has only been the start of her work as she helps her brother Cavan, the 2015 Army Military Child of the Year, manage Socks for Vets, which provides goods for veterans and helped to train and care fore goats used in providing service support to wounded warriors.
Lorelei has been nationally recognized, receiving recognition from the Points of Light Foundation, the Maryland Volunteerism Award, and being featured on Dr. Oz show in 2015. She is affiliated with many organizations, including 4-H where she was recognized in 2016 and 2017, where I was lucky enough to meet her in person at multiple state conferences. Lorelei is not even thinking about slowing down. As she explained, “I am missing half of my heart, and people sometimes think I can’t do anything, but I can.” And she does.
https://www.facebook.com/CHDHeartHugs
This is such a cute story! It is awesome how she took the pain she felt and something she was passionate about and combines it with a skill she had through sowing. It is also really cool to see how her brother started a nonprofit and how she is able to help him out. She is obviously very passionate about helping the poor and needy and it is cool that at such a young age she was able to combine pain with passion and start a nonprofit that has helped so many people.
Lorelei has a truly inspiring story. I am so happy to hear she took something out of her pain and made it into an awesome non-profit. Her story is so inspiring and I hope other entrepreneurs can find inspiration from her as well.
I love how Lorelei didn’t let the situation that she was placed in weigh her down, or even slow her down for that matter. Instead, she used what most people can agree on is not a good situation, and turned it into something amazing that can impact others for the better. She can teach many of us what it looks like to preserver, and that is a great trait to have.
This is such an incredible story, as well as a well-written post! I am so impressed that she not only learned to sew, but also create an impactful non-profit business at such a young age. This shows that even painful and unfortunate situations can result in something positive and helpful. Also, it was great that you included a picture to visualize it and a link so people who were looking for more information could find it.
This was such an inspiring post! I am impressed at this young girl’s entrepreneurial spirit and her ability to not let her own struggles in life stand in her way of helping others with their life struggles. Lorelei is a true entrepreneur and has clearly been able to use her gifts to make a positive impact in the lives of others, which is truly inspiring.