Heart Patient Sets the Stage for Giving

A freshman at Chapman University, Nathan is studying screenwriting with plans to one day write movies, star on the big screen, perform standup in clubs, and do improv with some of the best comedy troupes.

None of these ambitions are out of the realm of possibility. In addition to his high school acting, improv, and playwriting, Nathan has already performed stand-up at Tommy T's Comedy Club in Pleasanton and won the Best Romantic Comedy Short Screen Play Award at the Portland Comedy Film Festival in 2019. Nathan has also overcome several health challenges to make it this far—a congenital heart condition and Diamond Blackfan Anemia, a condition in which the bone marrow fails to produce enough red blood cells.

"It's such a pleasure to have him in our lives and to think what he has accomplished," says his grandfather, Bob Marchant. "He has just blossomed into such an interesting person. So creative! Nothing keeps him back."

During a 20-week prenatal ultrasound, doctors told Nathan's mom, Cherene Zingg, that her son had a heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot. Just 10 weeks after he was born, Nathan underwent the first of four heart surgeries at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford.

"When he was younger and visited the hospital more often, Nathan often thought of it as a second home," says his mom. "It was comforting to know he was receiving the treatment he needed and being taken care of by his remarkable team that has always provided the very best of care."

Nathan continues to travel from his home in Danville to Packard Children's Hospital yearly for follow-up visits at the Betty Irene Moore Children's Heart Center and every six months to check with Hematology for his anemia.

Grateful for Nathan's continued good health, Bob and his wife, Diane—who live in San Jose and are retired after running a thriving travel agency for many years—make annual donations to Packard Children's Hospital. Their accountant also recommended a donor-advised fund.

"It was easy," says Bob. "The donor-advised fund allows us to donate appreciated securities without any capital gains taxes."

They also included Packard Children's Hospital as a beneficiary in their estate plan. This gift will come to our hospital many years from now, helping children and families who are yet to walk through our hospital's doors.

"It's just amazing that we have this facility here," says Bob. "We want to see the great care and work that goes on there continue for many years."

For more information about how to set up a gift like Bob and Diane Marchant's, please reach out to the Gift Planning Team.