During a routine ultrasound - when Susie and Dan Hinds were expecting to learn the sex of their baby - the doctors had other news for them no parent is ever prepared to hear.
Their unborn baby had a trio of congenital heart defects - transposition of the great vessels (abnormal spatial arrangement of the vessels within the heart), dextracardia with situs inversus (abnormal positioning of the heart and other organs), and a ventricular septal defect (a defect in the wall dividing the left and right ventricles of the heart) - rare conditions on their own, and even rarer combined.
"That combination of things, there's different parts that sometimes are by themselves, but the combination made it kind of tricky, and not as many surgeons had seen the entire combination," Susie Hinds said.
After her birth at Boone County Hospital, Greta Hinds was airlifted to St. Louis Children's Hospital, where she received her first surgery at 1 week for an abdominal issue and her first heart surgery at 1 month.
"That was supposed to be a minor surgery, just trying to do something to help her get bigger for open heart surgery," Susie said. "And that was probably the most critical she'd ever been. She nearly died, and then that was, for us, the pivotal moment that it was real."
After surviving the surgery, Greta was able to go home, to grow to the size she needed to be for an eight-hour open heart surgery, which she received at 5 months. It was a successful repair.
On Saturday night, a now 17-year-old Greta Hinds took the stage at the American Heart Association's 29th annual Mid-Missouri Heart Ball to be recognized as this year's Heart Star.
Lighting up the stage in a sparkling dress, Greta stood in front of the full ballroom and told her story.
"My life today is pretty similar to a normal teenager, with the exception of yearly visits to my cardiologist and the scars on my chest and stomach," Greta told the audience. "Your donations and support are the reasons why I'm here today."
You wouldn't know about Greta's early-life struggles by looking at her now. An honor roll student and star golfer at Helias Catholic High School, the teen is busy with school activities from being part of the student council to participating in campus ministry and being a student ambassador.
On National Wear Red Day last Friday, Greta and the rest of the student council raised more than $1,000 for the AHA by selling T-shirts at the school.
Her father, Dan, has coached her in "every sport possible under the sun."
"It's very gratifying to see how hard she goes at it," Dan said. "She works at everything she does, and it brings a smile to your face to realize all the things she's gotten over."
A big struggle for Greta was the scars along her abdomen and chest. She was self-conscious when wearing a swim suit, until the summer before her eighth-grade year.
"I realized that was kind of part of who I was, and I needed to accept that and embrace it and support the advancements the American Heart Association is doing so kids like me can benefit from those," Greta said.
Greta still has yearly check-ups to make sure her heart is keeping up with her. But Susie said her heart repair is meant to grow with her, and they haven't had any repeat issues.
"That's the great part about the Heart Association is that there's advances all the time, and even from when Greta was a baby and things we heard then to now, they're getting better and better, and a lot of kids don't have to have multiple surgeries," Susie said.
Three years ago, the Hinds family attended the Heart Ball for the first time and realized how widespread the effects are of heart disease or defects.
"Just sitting there at the Heart Ball the first time we went, we looked around at the people at our table and said, 'How many of your guys have somebody that you know that has been touched by some sort of heart disease?' and every single person at our table had," Susie said.
Greta said having a Heart Star allows people to put a face to the issue and the work done by the association.
"I think it's so awesome for people to be able to put a face to the American Heart Association or to say, 'This is what you can do,' - to help people realize that their donations or their support are helping people here in the community," Greta said.
Susie is also a member of the committee that works on the Open Your Heart portion of the ball, where attendees can donate to the AHA. The Heart Ball also gathered donations Saturday through live and silent auctions on a variety of items from gift baskets to week-long vacations.
For the Hinds family, which also includes Charlie, 15, and Sophie, 13, the support of the association and the community is one long-lasting effect of Greta's condition.
"That's the beauty of a small community, and that's why this community always does so well with charitable events and philanthropic causes," Susie said. "They come together, whether it be through prayer or financial support or volunteering - they come through."