Today's Article

Aubree Blake shows me some of the videos she's enjoyed making over the last year. The 5th grade student decided she wanted to create content about the 2heart condition she was born with. 

"I was born with something called 3coarctation of the aorta." 

"It just shows that I was really brave during that moment and that it shows me now that I can do it again if I need it." 

"This part is so small that the blood needs more pressure to go through." 

Aubree's dad, Christopher, says making the videos helped his daughter prepare for her recent major surgery at Akron Children's Hospital. 

"I think the more that we prepared for those videos, the more that we 4communicated and talked about the 5procedure itself and why she had to have it."

Quickly, the "EMS" side of TikTok started 6engaging with Aubree's journey, and when the popular, "Sleepy Paramedic" shared her story, her following 7took off. 

"She got quite the following and became somewhat of a TikTok star, and it's just kind of gone from there." 

"Thank you so much for all of the support and nice comments. I have truly enjoyed reading them." 

When she walked into the 8operating room with her dad, Aubree had folks around the world cheering her on. 

"It's still a huge deal to have, go on a 9heart-lung machine, have your 10circulation stopped throughout your body with the exception of 11perfusing the brain." 

That online support made a huge 12impact during her 13recovery. 

"When I got out of it, I got to look through all the comments and it was really fun to just get out of it and it really got off my mind." 

And 14by far, the most popular video she's ever made, running out of the hospital and back to her life as a happy, healthy 10-year-old.