On September 26, 5-year-old Sienna Barton and her family were welcomed home in a block-party style celebration, after she spent nearly 1,000 days in hospital care.
That sense of community bonding goes beyond cheers, welcome home posters, smiles and hugs. Thanks to neighbors, friends and generous donors, tens of thousands of dollars were raised in the spirit of a little girl getting a new heart.
Life for Sienna hasn’t been easy in her short time on earth.
Her parents, Francesca and Fano, said she was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. The condition is rare, and it means the left side of her heart was not fully developed—forms of treatment include surgery and heart transplants.
Sienna has endured multiple open-heart surgeries since birth, and in January 2023, she developed severe heart failure. She was admitted to Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, where she’d undergo cardiac rehabilitation treatments.
“She spent her third, fourth and fifth birthdays inpatient,” her mother Francecsa said.
The Bartons recounted the emotional, mental and financial toll of having their daughter experience a life-altering condition.
“We could not have done it without our community out here, because they stepped in and helped us when we thought we were stretched too thin,” Fano said.
During Sienna’s nearly two and a half years inpatient at Primary Children’s, she was placed on a waiting list for a heart transplant, but the wait lasted longer than expected, so Francesca said they made a decision to travel to a hospital in Texas, where they’d have a better chance at finding a donor. More than $50,000 was raised with the help of community members who organized a GoFundMe campaign and the Claire the Heart Warrior foundation to help cover travel costs.
“And they raised it all for us to be able to get Sienna there in about two weeks.”
The family traveled to Texas at the end of May 2025, and a couple weeks later, Sienna had her new heart.
Fano hopes their family’s story can help spark others to have conversations about what it means to be an organ donor—and the potential of saving a life. “Sienna is only alive today because another little family chose to let their little boy be a donor,” Fano said.
The Bartons are happy to have their Sienna back home after a total of 975 days in medical care as she slowly progresses to newfound strength and energy.
Speaking of energy, the Bartons said it was electric when they pulled into their Saratoga Springs community late last month for Sienna’s homecoming and saw more than 100 people cheering in her honor, including Jaclyn and Peyton Gerber of Gerber Photo and Film, who normally capture weddings around Utah and donated their photography and videography services so that Sienna and her family will never forget this special occasion.
Fano and Francesca said the parade was the culmination of the past years of endless hospital visits, medical bills and surgeries, with support from dozens of community members there every step of the way.
“For that many people there in one place, and [to] realize; holy cow...this is what it took to get here—it was incredible,” Francesca said.
While Sienna’s journey to a healthy heart isn’t quite over, as the Bartons said she will continue with physical therapy sessions, in addition to checkups in Texas, they’re now focused on rebuilding their family life and hope to someday pay it forward to another family in need of the same kindness and healing they’ve received.