There are quite a few heroes today, folks, and it's really making me feel positive. I don't know, something about reading about children saving other children just plants a smile on your face and keeps it there. Now, I will ask you folks to bear with me as I throw some technical terms at you. But I promise it will still be worth the read. A child saved two other children, and thanks to The New York Post, we have the scoop:
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The Donor
10-year-old Hend Almesafri was given the gift of life thanks to a deceased heart donor. But of course, she wasn't just content with being saved, she also wanted to save others. So, she turned around and donated her pulmonary valve to John Catoliato, 2, and her aortic valve to Teddy Carter, 3. Because, yes, she's just that much of a hero.
The three kids reunited back in February, with Hend surprising the two boys with gifts. Once again, just because she's that good of a person.
On the return end, John's mother Joanne stated, "We can never come up with a gift for her — what could you buy someone who gave your child the gift of life?" Which, honestly, is a fair response. Not a lot of 'thanks for giving our child life' thank you cards.
John's Heart Condition
Speaking of John, he was diagnosed with truncus arteriosus when Joanna was 24 weeks pregnant. Alright, stay with me now. Truncus arteriosus is a condition in which, instead of having two exits from the heart — one going to the body and one going to the lungs — he only had one and a hole in his heart.
She and her husband Thomas were immediately referred to New York Presbyterian, where she never once considered terminating him.
"I loved [John] from the minute I found out I was pregnant with him," she said. "I knew that the doctors at New York-Presbyterian could fix him. If anyone could fix him, it would be them."
Their initial solution was an artificial valve, but that would mean consistent surgeries as the boy grew because, of course, plastic doesn't. But then Joanne and Thomas were told about a potential heart transplant, and were instantly on board.
"It's almost like there's a light at the end of the tunnel for him," Joanne said. "It's a comfort to us to know that John may never need an open heart surgery — we may never have to hand our child to a surgeon again."
In July, New York Presbyterian informed Joanne that Hend had decided to donate the perfectly usable pulmonary valve of her old heart to John. Joanne was overjoyed. Hend the hero came to the rescue.
Teddy's Heart Condition
Teddy was only two months old when his world changed forever. He was diagnosed with a heart defect called aortic stenosis, which can block or restrict blood flow to the heart.
Even after multiple procedures, Teddy was going to need several more open-heart surgeries before he reached adulthood. But once again, Hend stepped in to save the day.
The team of surgeons at New York Presbyterian performed a split-root domino heart transplant. This allowed them to use one heart to benefit two recipients.
Said Dr. Andrew Goldstone, surgical director of pediatric heart transplantation at New York-Presbyterian, on the subject, "A split-root domino partial heart transplant is extremely rare and has been performed only a handful of times — and, up until this operation, never in the northeast."
Congratulations to both boys on their hopefully healthy future. And thank you again to Hend for being the hero everyone deserves in their lives.
