My Son Had Heart

Originally posted by me as dakotaismyson March 8, 2020

I got a call from the donor service (TDS) last night. She asked via text if she could call first and I agreed. My son, during his 71 hours in the critical care unit, developed an infection in his lungs. They had hoped that running some mega antibiotics into his system would clear it up, but I found out his lungs hadn’t responded. So when they put his status into the donor system, they couldn’t include his lungs. Some may say that’s a tragedy because the kiddo was as healthy as a horse. A runner. Super strong heart and lungs.

Apparently the fact that they couldn’t use his lungs changed something related to heart donation. Something about non-lung donors mean they can use more arteries or something related to his heart, which is a big deal because some heart candidates need that as a condition of their recipient status.

I say all that because it affected who his heart could go to, and that is why the donor service called… to tell me that special circumstance was exactly what a 19 year old boy needed. This 19 year old boy received my son’s heart and apparently his body is accepting it very well. I guess he would have died without this. He told TDS to let me know that he was sorry for the loss of my son but wanted me to know my son will forever be his hero.

I don't know what to do with that.