CONSHOHOCKEN >> This year’s Philly Spin-In for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has particular significance for one local family. The annual event benefits CHOP’s Cardiac Center, and Conshohocken Mayor Yaniv Aronson, wife Sarah and one-year-old son Thomas are among its 2024 ambassadors.
The actual “party on a bike…with heart-pumping music, Philly’s top spin instructors and inspiring patient stories” doesn’t take place until March 9-10, but the Aronsons have already begun recruiting volunteers to join their spin team or contribute to the CHOP fundraiser.
Philly Spin-In 2024 is scheduled for March 9 from 3 to 7 p.m. and March 10 from 8 a.m. to noon and 2 to 6 p.m. at Live! Casino & Hotel, 900 Packer Ave., Philadelphia. The event will also be live-streamed for virtual participation on Sunday. Spin-In team members – all ability levels welcome – ride “relay-style, sharing a bike and switching riders as frequently as they would like throughout the four 45-minute classes.”
The Aronson family’s involvement goes back to Thomas’ birth with a condition called hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS).
“He has had two heart surgeries, one at just two-days-old, and is doing very well because of the wonderful cardiac team at CHOP,” his parents explain in their son’s “ambassador story” at https://www.phillyspinin.ort/ambassadors/. “Funds raised will help to support other families going through what we went through this past year as well as continue to fund the research that has given Thomas his success story and, ultimately, help to find a permanent cure.”
CHOP defines HLHS as “a severe congenital heart defect in which the left side of the heart is underdeveloped.”
According to his Spin-In profile, “Thomas was first referred to the Fetal Heart Program at CHOP after an abnormal anatomy scan. While there, he underwent a Norwood procedure followed by a successful bidirectional Glenn procedure.”
The Conshohocken boy spent his earliest weeks in CHOP’s intensive care unit. But a year later, the cheerful, rosy-cheeked tot is a familiar sight around town as he joins his parents on outings for the borough’s numerous holiday celebrations and official events. He even accompanied them to Lancaster last summer when hizzoner was named the Pennsylvania State Mayors’ Association 2023 Mayor of the Year.
The Aronsons credit their son’s “full recovery to the amazing surgical team led by Dr. Maeda, regular visits with his outpatient cardiologist, Dr. Favilla, and around-the-clock support from the Infant Single Ventricle Monitoring Program.”
They call response to their selection as Philly Spin-In ambassadors “heartening.”
“Our team, Thomas’ Cardiac Crew, currently has 24 riders with room for plenty more,” they say. “We have seen support from family, friends, community members and neighbors, which has been so heartening. We hope that being such public ambassadors will raise awareness for children with congenital heart defects and that the funds we raise will help CHOP continue to find cures for Thomas and so many other heart warriors.”
Additional details about joining or contributing to Thomas’ Cardiac Crew are available at https://www.phillyspinin.org/ambassadors/. General information about CHOP’s Philly Spin-In is posted at https://www.phillyspinin.org.
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