An eight-year-old Kalona girl will be a Kid Captain for the Iowa Hawkeye Football team this fall. Gabby Yoder has a congenital heart defect where the right side of the heart is underdeveloped. Her condition was diagnosed after a fetal ultrasound, and after Gabby was born at UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital, she was taken immediately to the neonatal intensive care unit. Just seven days after birth, Gabby underwent an open heart surgery. Since then, she has undergone two more open heart surgeries, numerous trips to the pediatric catheterization lab, two corrective eye surgeries, and many other procedures. Gabby will be the Hawkeye Kid Captain on October 12, when the Hawkeyes play Penn State.

Kid Captain is a partnership that began in 2009 between University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital and the Iowa Hawkeyes to honor pediatric patients and celebrate their inspirational stories.