CLEVELAND — Nationwide, more than 1,800 children are waiting on an organ donation, that wait can be anywhere from months to years, but one newborn saw that donation quicker than expected.
When Angie Voisard learned she was pregnant, she was excited to have a fourth child. Angie said the pregnancy and delivery were smooth, but when her daughter was two months old, the problems began.
“I had gotten home from work and her dad was like, you need to go listen to Bella’s breathing,” said Angie.
Angie then rushed her baby to the emergency room at Akron Children’s Hospital, where doctors found Bella’s heart was enlarged and her organs were failing. They then told her 2-month-old baby would need a heart transplant.
“It was, like, how had we gotten here? Like she was yesterday playing on the floor, like how did we get here so fast that now we're praying that she makes it,” said Angie.
Bella was then transferred to Cleveland Clinic, where Dr. Gerard Boyle, the medical director of pediatric heart failure and transplant services at Cleveland Clinic, took over. Boyle said that they were able to stabilize Bella until she got her new heart, but with infants, there are a few challenges when it comes to organ transplants.
“As an adult, you can take a heart from just about anybody, any weight range cause the size will almost certainly fit. In children, you know, in an infant, you can only take an infant heart,” said Boyle.
The heart size and weight can also increase the wait time, along with the fact there are fewer organs being donated.
“No parent should outlive their child. That's just a human fact. But, if your child has a traumatic event and is no longer survivable, it's difficult to accept that you have to donate their organs,” said Boyle.
Children can wait anywhere from a year to a year and a half. For Bella and her mom, though that wait felt like an eternity, after just five and a half months, Bella got the transplant she needed. Now, she's healthier than ever.
“She went into surgery healthy. She came out of the surgery very healthy and recovered very quickly,” said Boyle.
But as they celebrated, it wasn't lost on Angie, the cost of saving her daughter.
“I know that that decision could be extremely difficult, especially because you're in a situation where you're going through probably the most tragic experience of your life if you're losing your child. But knowing that you can continue their life through another beautiful human being is it's so worth it,” said Angie.
Boyle said in some cases, the parents find healing through donating.
"I have found that parents who have made that decision in the long run feel some kind of not only closure but satisfaction in the fact that they allowed another child to live," said Boyle.
Bella is now 1-year-old, and every time Angie looks at her baby, she’s filled with gratitude.
“I see strength, resilience, just a blessing, a miracle,” said Angie.
And reminded of that sacrifice.
“You get to give someone else a life, and look how beautiful it can be,” said Angie.
