ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – For this 6-year-old, physical therapy is not just about building strength; it is about embracing joy.
At first glance, Liam Kurka is like any other kid. He’s full of energy, determination and laughter. His playful spirit shines through as he jokes with his physical therapist as she helps him jump up and down.
But behind his big personality is a battle he has been fighting since birth. Liam was born in 2018 with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare congenital condition that affects normal blood flow through the heart. The standard course of treatment includes three open-heart surgeries by age 5. Liam, however, has endured four — the first at just 3 weeks old.
“After his first open-heart surgery, he suffered some complications that put him into cardiac arrest,” his mother, Amber, recalled. “He spent four days on life support on ECMO.”…