BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) – It may be hard to tell by his big smile and cheerful laugh, but it’s been a tough road for two-year-old Augie Casas and his parents Casey and Chris.

The Buffalo family has leaned on their friends and faith as Augie defied the odds after being diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, a congenital heart defect that left the two-year-old fighting for his life.

Casey Casas

“Without palliative surgery, the average lifespan is six days,” Casey Casas told me. “Augie had his first open heart surgery when he was six days old.”

“It was so scary at first to see Augie come out of his first surgery with his chest open, you could see his heartbeat,” Chris Casas said.

Unfortunately, that was just the beginning of the young boy’s challenges.

Augie needed a second open heart surgery soon after as well as two brain surgeries after being diagnosed with Hydrocephalus, but through it all he continues to defy the odds.

“We’ve been living in this really surreal space of the in-between stages of life and death for the past two years, and this window was in front of us where you can see both sides,” Casey said.

And now the latest challenge: Augie needs a heart transplant after being diagnosed with active heart failure.

The Casas family has already begun the process of heart transplant evaluations at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Family and friends are rallying support by selling “Strong Like Augie” T-shirts to raise awareness for organ donation and help cover the costs of his transplant journey. More information about the shirts can be found here.

Chris Casas

“We’ve always called Augie our little Augie Bear, and it’s kind of a testament to him,” Casey said. “He’s been a bear through it all, he’s just overcome the odds. We want people to realize how strong he is, and how strong all these heart kids are.”

Friends have also started a GoFundMe page to help support the Casas Family.

Casey said the process of finding a heart, the transplant and then recovery can take almost two years. Augie will have to live in the Boston area the entire time.

“He will have to be listed 1-A, which is the most critical. That will require him to live in the hospital. He will be put on medication for heart failure and then be listed because of his hero heart,” Casey said. “So I’ll stay with Augie at the hospital the whole time, and Chris and I will alternate between who’s there, whose house, and who runs the ‘Cheeseburger Factory.’

That cheeseburger factory is Mister Sizzle’s on Connecticut Street in Buffalo, which Casey and Chris co-founded.

“I feel incredibly blessed that we can go this route for a transplant because it means he gets a second chance,” Casey said.

“Every day we are a family of five is the best day of my life, no matter what,” Chris added.