Life, loss, hope and healing – these are the stories of those touched by donation.
We invite you to:
- Scroll down and watch the story of 11-year-old donor hero John B. Mullins IV.
- Click here to visit our YouTube page and meet recipients, donor family members and those waiting for their lifesaving gifts.
- Click on the panels at the bottom of this page to read more stories on our website.
John B. Mullins IV
My Sweet Brother, Greg
February 10, 1999 changed my life. I was relaxing at home when my mother called me and said she was hearing sirens and she felt it in her heart that something had happened to my brother, Greg. I thought to myself there was no way, that Greg was okay, but at the same time I had to go to her.
200 Percent Better
In the late 90s, I was driving a truck for work for the City of Columbus street maintenance team when I began having chest pains. I was able to get myself to the hospital and spent a week there undergoing testing. The doctors told me I had a heart attack. At the time, I didn’t realize it was only the first of many more to come.
A Really Good Friday
A routine physical in 2004 revealed that I had an irregular heartbeat, a surprise to me! I immediately had an internal defibrillator implanted that to keep my heart in rhythm. Just a few years later I needed knee replacement surgery and my doctors wondered if I was strong enough to handle it. It turns out my heart wasn’t strong enough and I was told I had congestive heart failure.
Wowed by My Son
My son had a heart of gold, and he knew what mattered. He loved his family and everyone who knew him would remember him as kind and compassionate.
Breathing Easily
My name is Karen Range. Prior to February 2006 I was a fairly healthy stay-at-home mom of a 2-year-old. In mid-February I started coughing and was short of breath. I went to the doctor and was told I had pneumonia. I was given antibiotics and steroids but continued to worsen.
Grateful for a Second Chance
All my life I thought I had asthma. I treated the condition and tried to work out to improve my stamina – what I didn’t know at the time was that I was aging my heart. One day when in 2001, I passed out at work and doctors discovered that I had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
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