Heart + Kidney Transplant post-massive cardiac arrest
Thought to share my story as it was recently featured by the American Heart Association.
I hope to lift you guys’ spirits as we all embark on our transplant journey together. Things get better.
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At 17, I went into cardiac arrest playing soccer, It turns out I had a rare congenital heart defect I never knew about.
My heart couldn't sustain me on its own, so I was placed on ECMO and put into a medically induced coma. I stayed there for three months. When I came out of it, I had an LVAD keeping my heart going while doctors worked to find a way forward. I focused on both physical and occupational therapy to begin building up more strength, as my body had been systematically destroyed from all the trauma sustained, during this time.
8 months after the arrest, I received a heart and kidney transplant. In all, I spent 11 months in the hospital and went through 16 surgeries just during that year.
It’s been 12 years since the incident and I’m doing infinitely better.
If you guys have any questions I could answer, I would love to help in whichever way I can!
Here’s the link to the full article:
https://www.heart.org/en/news/2026/09/25/cardiac-arrest-and-a-double-transplant-took-soccer