Editor's note: Roughly 3,000 people in Tennessee and 106,000 nationwide are waiting for the lifesaving gift of an organ transplant. NewsChannel 5’s Carrie Sharp is taking an in-depth look at the process, including the selfless decision of those who donate.
This month, the United States marked one million lifesaving organ transplants — a world record. Part of the unique club of transplant recipients is Paul Melchiorre, 10, who received a new heart when he was just 3 years old.
“Paul was born with a condition called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, and basically, what this means is half his heart was under-developed," said Colleen, Paul's mom.
The complex condition typically requires three open heart surgeries to restructure the heart. Paul made it through two, but the third changed everything.
“He came out of the operating room, and we were ready to go — like, 'this is great; everything is going to be fine.' And within hours, he was reintubated, and they were trying to figure out what had happened,” Colleen said.
Soon, a transplant was mentioned for the first time. Paul would need a new heart to live.
The family would spend months in Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. It was now their home as Paul waited for six months on the transplant list. And then one day, when Paul was 3 1/2 years old, the call came that a heart was available. And the emotions set in.
“For a child to donate an organ, they have to be in a really precarious scenario where they're dying and their parents have to make a choice to say yes we will donate our child's organs so that another child can live,” Colleen said.
That selfless gift is not lost on the boy who now carries a donated heart in his own chest.
“I would say thank you very much to your son or daughter who donated that organ to me,” Paul told NewsChannel 5’s Carrie Sharp.
A recent checkup showed Paul’s heart is working beautifully. As Paul’s family celebrates every healthy milestone, the donor’s family and their heartache is never forgotten.
“Every decision I make for Paul, I consider the family that donated — what would that mother want me to do? How would that mother want me to proceed? How can I be a very good steward of this thing that gave us more time?” Colleen said.
If you want to learn more about organ and tissue donation or sign up to become a donor, visit the Be The Gift Today website.
Read other stories of lifesaving organ donation by Carrie Sharp.
