Former Ohio State women’s volleyball player Sarah Sue Morbitzer writes children’s book, shares story of her life with a congenital heart defect

A former Ohio State women’s volleyball player is opening her heart to others with a new children’s book.

Sarah Sue Morbitzer — who graduated from Ohio State in the summer with a degree in exercise science — is set to publish her children’s book, titled “Sarah Scarbuck’s Heart Zipper: A Story of a Heart Surgery Scar,” this upcoming week. The book shares Morbitzer’s experience with a congenital heart defect and open-heart surgery; as of now, it can be purchased via Mascot Books’ website and will be available to order through Amazon and Barnes & Noble starting Tuesday.

Morbitzer said the book’s goal is teaching children who have similar scars to be proud of what they’ve overcome.

“The goal is to give other kids the strength and resilience my parents always gave me to be proud of my scar and to show it off,” Morbitzer said. “I write in the book that it is a ‘badge of honor,’ so hopefully it will tell others to be super proud of their scar and their story.”

Carole Morbitzer, Sarah Sue Morbitzer’s mother, said she hopes the book will touch the lives of parents who may be struggling with similar issues that she and her family faced.

“She always wanted to reach out to the kids and share her story, and I told her that it was equally important for the parents to hear it,” Carole Morbitzer said. “When Sarah was a baby, [her doctors] told us she could have a normal life, but we didn’t have a Sarah Sue to look at. We just had to listen to her doctors and trust what they said, so for parents to be able to see her as a model is huge.”

Carole Morbitzer said she and her husband Mike Morbitzer learned about their daughter’s congenital heart defect when she was just two days old. She said the doctors had told them they could take Sarah Sue home, but that at four months old she would need open-heart surgery.

“We were holding our beautiful baby girl — red hair and blue eyes — and we find out that she has to have heart surgery. I mean the news was just devastating,” Carole Morbitzer said. “Every parent is scared with a newborn, but this was different.”

Sarah Sue Morbitzer said the book — which is dedicated to her parents, brother and one of her best friends — follows her volleyball journey as well, focusing on how her family supported her athletic and medical experiences.

“They always empowered me to love my scar, and use it to fire me up and go play some volleyball,” Sarah Sue Morbitzer said.

Sarah Sue Morbitzer said volleyball is one of the most important aspects of her personal story. She said her mother spent much of her childhood coaching varsity volleyball at Reynoldsburg High School and Hamilton Township High School, both of which are in Ohio.

“I grew up in the gym,” Sarah Sue Morbitzer said. “My mom being a high school head varsity coach basically all of my life growing up led me to fall in love with the game from a very young age.”

Carole Morbitzer said being able to share a love for volleyball with her daughter is something she will forever be grateful for.

“Our time together with volleyball has been extremely special,” Carole Morbitzer said. “Even before she played on my team, she as a young child went to every single match and practice with me until she was in middle school and had her own matches to go to. Most kids would spend their summers at the pool or friends houses, but she spent hers in the gym with me.”

Carole Morbitzer said when her daughter joined Ohio State’s volleyball team in the fall of 2020, it seemed like the right time to retire from high school coaching.

“She always came to all of my matches, never missed one of them,” Carole Morbitzer said. “Then it became more that I didn’t want to miss her matches.”

In fall 2020, when Sarah Sue Morbitzer began her first year at Ohio State and first season on the women’s volleyball team, she said she realized she was struggling to keep up during conditioning. At first, she thought she was out of shape, but soon discovered leakage in her heart valve — the door that opens and closes blood flow from the heart to other areas of the body.

Sarah Sue Morbitzer said this instance led to another necessary procedure, but this time she was given a choice between another open-heart surgery or the replacement of the valve, which was part of a clinical trial.

“It was either open-heart surgery or the clinical trial, which would allow me to be on the court again,” Sarah Sue Morbitzer said. “So, I was all for that because it got me back out there after just a month compared to six months with open heart surgery. It was kind of a no-brainer for me.”

Carole Morbitzer said the decision was completely up to Sarah Sue Morbitzer, but that didn’t make it any less scary.

“Mike [Morbitzer]  had said that making that decision was the moment that she was a grown up,” Carole Morbitzer said. “I was sobbing in the corner of the doctor’s office, and she was just sitting there, and she had said, ‘Why are we even talking about this? I’m going to do this,’ and that was tough, but obviously we were there to support her.”

Sarah Sue Morbitzer said after the second procedure’s completion, she made the choice to share her story in the form of a children’s book.

“We had a family friend growing up who always said that I was destined to write a book, and I always thought, ‘Well, maybe,’ but it wasn’t until my sophomore year of college that I was like, ‘This needs to happen,’” Sarah Sue Morbitzer said.

Sarah Sue Morbitzer said the book took a year to produce, including finalizing the text and illustrations as well as choosing a final cover design.

“It is in my hand now, which is crazy,” Sarah Sue Morbitzer said. “I just hope that the book and my story can give hope and inspiration to other families.”

For more information about Sarah Sue Morbitzer’s book, visit Mascot Books’ website .