Christmas came early for my cousin and her family. Her granddaughter Claire (5 years old) had been born with a heart defect and was not expected to live very much longer without a heart transplant. It was at a tragic cost but one did come available. Here is the sorrowful turned joyful story that was reported on our local NBC affiliate last night.

http://www.nbc5i.com/video/10599289/index.html

One's tragic loss becomes another's life-saving blessing!

This Christmas will hold very special and significant meaning for your family, Don and Diana! Our deepest thoughts and prayers to the family who lost their loved one! Our very warmest and best wishes to Claire, who received the ultimate holiday miracle!

Oh Don what a beautiful little girl! As you said her health came with a tragic loss for the other mother - yet that mother gave the gift of life which will keep her little girl alive in Claire's heart.

God bless that Mother as well as Claire!

Thank you for sharing this with us on Christmas Eve - it really puts family, life and love in to perspective!

I'm very happy for you and your cousin's family, Don!

Masaki

Truly an amazing Christmas story!

I just opened this email this morning that was forwarded from my cousin. It is from her daughter Sarah and I thought I would share it. It is truly an amazing story.

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Claire's transplant story will be featured in the local Heart to Heart
newsletter:

The last several weeks for me and Claire have been a wild ride to say the least. Claire's need for new heart can be traced back to what once appeared to be a simple stomach-ache. One year and several diagnoses later, Claire
is the heart recipient of Katherine Frances, the local six year-old girl who suffered a violent death at the hands of her fourteen year old foster brother.

Early in 2006, Claire spent an entire weekend complaining of a chronic "tummy ache." I brought her into the emergency room at Presby Hospital of Plano to be examined. She was later diagnosed with pneumonia and hospitalized for several days. (This happened over and over again as the months went by.)

In May, it was recommended that Claire have a procedure done to get a closer look at her lungs and the persistent pneumonia. The findings showed that Claire did not actually have pneumonia, but was bleeding internally. Her
doctors were not sure of the cause, so Claire was tested every week for a variety of different diseases and potential culprits, including mold
exposure and cystic fibrosis. Everything came back normal.

Over the summer, we sought out other opinions and traveled to Portland to meet with one of the nation's top pediatric cardiologists. An echocardiogram showed that Claire's internal bleeding was caused by a rare and severe
heart defect known as Restrictive Cardiomyopathy. Claire's heart was enlarged and
was only going to continue to grow and swell while her symptoms rapidly advanced. Basically, Claire had less than two years to live.

Devasted by the new findings, we came back to Texas, seeking the support of friends and family. Claire met with the cardiology team at Children's Hospital and began the workup for heart transplant. During a routine cardiac
catheterization, Claire went into cardiac arrest and spent several days recovering in the ICU at Children's. After that, she was listed as a status 1B for transplant.

We waited two months at home for a donor. Finally, after weeks of living on pins and needles, we got the page. It was our time.

On December 6, 2006 Katherine Frances was pronounced dead and her picture was all over the news. That evening, Claire was transplanted, and had a flawless post-operative period. We spent the minimum 10 days in the hospital and were then released to spend the holidays at home, still unaware of who the donor was. After receiving a call from the transplant alliance a week later, I was informed of the donor's story and a news interview was scheduled for Claire.

Claire has continued to impress us all with her new energy level and increased appetite. Since recieving her new heart, she has been a much
happier, more energetic Claire. I'd like to think that she is the Claire she was always meant to be now that heart disease isn't holding her back. She told reporters that she wants to be a farmer and a doctor when she grows up,
so that she can "take care of the little kids."

Perhaps Claire will be the first "heart farmer" for transplant kids one day.

That is such a beautiful story, bittersweet for sure, but thank goodness Claire is responding so well to the transplant!

Tears rolling down my face Don - what a touching story, and how wonderful for Claire and her family. I hope she continues to be blessed with good health.

What an incredible story, Don! Bless her's & Katherine Frances' little heart!

It is such a blessing when one families' loss can mean a new chance for life for others. I'm so glad to hear that Claire is doing well after this gift of life was given to her.

Nothing will take away the grief Katherine Frances' family is experiencing but the fact that her death was able to give life to Claire (and perhaps others - I could not download the story due to the way my husband currently has this computer set-up) does ease the pain of their loss. A great nephew of mine died in an accident on his ATV at the age of 18 a few years ago on July 4th. His organs went to 7 different people. His death was a crushing loss to the family, but fulfilling his previously stated wish to be a donor did help them to cope.

What an incredible story, Don. I am so happy for Claire, I hope she continues to do well.

My nephew's new bride of one year is on the transplant list for a new set of lungs. She has been listed now for about six months, which is the average wait time. We live on pins and needles hoping and waiting for the call, all the while knowing that another family will experience the other side of our joy and relief. I really hope that our Sara can give them some solace at a really difficult time.