BROWARD COUNTY (CBS Miami)
South Florida doctors say heart transplants are hitting a record high in the United States.
“I wouldn’t be as strong as I am if he isn’t as strong as he is,” says mother Morgan Crowley.
Crowley’s son, Steve, 2, has been in the hospital ever since he was born.
Steve was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, meaning the left part of his heart is missing.
The Crowley family has lived in the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital for 12 months- and have had no luck getting a heart.
“It has been really hard,” says Crowley. “But we are not giving up.”
There are hundreds of people on the heart transplant list, and it continues to grow, not because more people are getting sick but because more people are able to live longer without an immediate transplant.
“There will always be more people on the list than hearts available,” says Dr. Michael J. Sasevich, cardiothoracic surgeon with HCA Florida Kendall Hospital. “With the use of medicine and other surgeries, patients have been able to live longer.”
Even though there will always be a need, doctors are urging families of all ages to be registered organ donors.
“What I would love is that people would tell their families that they want to be an organ donor,” says Dr. Frank Scholl, from Joe DiMaggio’s Children’s Hospital.
For more information on being an organ donor, click here.
WINK NEWS