The University of Iowa Hawkeyes will be taking on Penn State this weekend, but they can't do it without their Kid Captain!

Even though it doesn't FEEL like football season (temperature-wise), we are in the middle of it, with the first night game for the Hawkeyes coming up on Saturday! And when there's a Hawkeye game, there's always a Kid Captain from the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital. This week's captain is Drew Steffen of Atkins, Iowa.

10-year-old Drew had his first visit to the emergency department when he was just a few days old. His parents had noticed he was having some trouble breathing, which they soon found out was because of a complicated form of congenital heart disease. Doctors figured out that Drew’s heart was missing its right ventricle, which was causing the rest of his heart to work harder. After being flown to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital, it was determined that Drew would need to undergo three open heart surgeries, with the first one happening when he was only 11-days-old. His second surgery occurred when he 6-months-old and the final one happened when he was almost 4-years-old.

Since then, Drew has been doing very well. But because the heart condition is a lifelong battle, he has regular echocardiograms and checkups, takes daily medications, and will likely have to have a heart transplant in the future.

Clearly Drew is a fighter and an inspiration to many! We wish him the best of luck!

To read more on Drew's story, click HERE.

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