This page is dedicated to the ACHA family and friends whom we have lost. You can read their profiles here. We also invite you to submit a memorial on someone you loved who lived with ACHD for this website.
Please send your memorial submission to info@achaheart.org. Include the name of the person you are memorializing, along with your name and contact information. We encourage you to send a picture, but that is optional. Please keep your submission to 500 words or less.
Tracey Renee Grasty, BSN, RN, CCRN, CSC, PCN, CCRN, was born in Detroit, MI, with tricuspid atresia, a severe congenital heart defect with no cure. Before the age of five, she underwent two major heart surgeries—the Blalock-Taussig-Thomas shunt and the Waterston shunt—to increase her oxygen and blood flow. She grew up with limited energy, frequent headaches, and significant physical restrictions, yet she never asked for special accommodation and excelled academically.
Tracey also lived with scoliosis, spending 5½ years in a Milwaukee brace before undergoing back surgery to place a Harrington rod. Despite these challenges, she earned As and Bs and was thriving at the University of Michigan.
At age 21, Tracey faced a life-altering decision. Her cardiologist told her she needed the Fontan procedure, an open heart surgery that would give her a chance at a longer, fuller life. Without it, she would not live past 26. She temporarily left college to undergo the surgery, studied for the MCAT during her recovery, and later returned to graduate with a BS in Microbiology from the University of Michigan (1990).
After graduating from University of Maryland (2001) Nursing School, Tracey began her nursing career at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she worked for seven years as a Nurse Clinician IM caring for adult cardiac patients. Wanting to be closer to family and pursue new opportunities, she became a travel nurse, working throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles.
In 2012, Tracey transitioned from adult cardiac care to pediatrics, joining Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC, where she cared for young patients for five years. When the opportunity arose to return to California, she joined UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital-Mission Bay in June 2017, serving children and families with compassion and expertise until she became too ill to continue working.
Tracey loved supporting her young patients and offering comfort and encouragement to their parents. This true Heart Warrior was deeply loved by her family, friends, colleagues, and the countless families she cared for.
She will be forever missed.
—Elena Barron