A Family’s Heartfelt Appreciation

Upon landing at Dulles Airport in Northern Virginia in 2007, Phil and Meri Gibbs of Annapolis were deeply con­cerned. With them was their newly-adopted 11-month-old baby Mathilde (“Tilly”), who was born with a form of congenital heart disease called tricuspid atresia. The next day they called Johns Hopkins pediatric cardiologist Joel Brenner, who quickly fit them into his clinic for an evaluation and began to manage Tilly’s care over a decade.

With tricuspid atresia, Brenner explained, the blood flow from the heart to the body is low in oxygen, resulting in the bluish skin discoloration called cyanosis. Tilly had two heart operations in Korea designed to improve her coronary blood flow. At Johns Hopkins at age 3, Tilly had a third operation that allowed near normal oxygen levels to be achieved.

During Tilly’s postoperative visit, Phil Gibbs approached Brenner about making a gift to help other patients like her. After further discussion, the Gibbs family decided to establish the Mathilde Lilly Chae-rin Gibbs Endowment Fund, which helps support nurse practitioner Kathleen Byrne, who manages young adults with congenital heart disease.

“There’s a lot of work that goes into caring for kids with complex heart disease who thankfully are living longer into adulthood,” says Brenner, Emeritus Director of the Helen B. Taussig Congenital Heart Center at Johns Hopkins. This in­cludes tasks not reimbursed by insurance like coordinating care with child life specialists, helping patients cope with difficult medical issues and finding family resources for them. “The Gibbs’ support is the type that’s really critical to carry out our mission—to take optimal care of patients.”

“The way that Dr. Brenner, and everybody at Johns Hop­kins, took care of us inspired us to do something that would have an impact,” says Phil, president and co-founder of Hamel Builders, Inc. Observing other families in the pediatric inten­sive care unit after Tilly’s operation, he says, “You just felt like if you could do something to make their stay or their care easier, or more manageable, it would be impactful. I wanted to contribute toward sustaining services and people.”

Today, Tilly is a happy and healthy 12 year old, who sees Brenner every September for a routine check-up. She enjoys fishing, arts and crafts, and playing with her dogs Stella, Olive and Milkdud. She also loves being part of a large family with four siblings JoAnna, Eli, Joshua and John. “Dr. Brenner is really nice,” Tilly says, “and I appreciate that he helped fix my heart.” Her parents appreciate that Brenner makes his exam and questions child-centered, empowering Tilly.

The Gibbs have a passion for helping others and a growing interest in supporting essential services for patient care which is not reimbursed by insurance. The Gibbs also hope to some­day establish a fund to support Brenner’s legacy in pediatric cardiology. Aware that he stepped down as division director in 2018, the family wishes to acknowledge his commitment to excellence in research, education and compassionate patient care, hoping the example will always be remembered.