After a complicated surgery, I received my new heart, my second chance at life in January 2018. Once I recovered, I knew that I wanted to give back in some way to the transplant community that has so helped me. I began volunteering with Donor Network West, the local OPO (Organ Procurement Organization) and found a niche that I could fill there, but it wasn’t until September of 2019 that I found a way to help that was desperately needed. I learned of a patient at my transplant center whose transplant was being delayed due to an inability to fully pay for his post transplant housing. A light bulb went off and I knew that something as solvable as money shouldn’t delay your second chance. I enlisted some friends and hosted a fundraiser on November 2, 2019 and raised $12,000 to help that patient and have some in reserve for the next ones. And that is how Heartfelt Help was founded. I am so grateful for my second chance and feel obligated to make it count in a way that gives back to the community that no one asks to be a member of, but for which all are grateful.
