A Single Mom Gets the Gift of a Heart Transplant, Just in Time for Christmas – Opinion

Christmas Eve, Merry Christmas! It is hard to imagine being away from your child this Christmas, and even more so if you have to face the reality that they may never get another one. Alfredo De la Cruz was faced with this reality in 2019, after his mother Victoria Guajardo died from a heart attack.

Texas ABC13:

Victoria Guajardo was separated from Alfredo De la Cruz for much of her last 2 years.

“I was sad when she was transferred to Houston,” Alfredo told ABC13. “I couldn’t be with her.”

He couldn’t be with her because her heart was failing. Guajardo was just 27 when she suffered a cardiac arrest and her heart stopped pumping. Guajardo was told by Harlingen Hospital, Texas that they would save her. But things didn’t go according to plan.

“(Doctors) did an open heart surgery where my heart stopped twice,” Guajardo recalled. “So that’s when they decided they were not able to do anything else for me, so they transferred me to Houston.”

Guajardo was listed on the transplant list since 2002. She was able to be placed with a heart pump thanks to Memorial Hermann at the Texas Medical Center Houston. This helped her to stay alive as she waited.

Guajardo was given hope by Memorial Hermann at the Texas Medical Center. A team of cardiothoracic surgeons installed the pump. They then placed Guajardo onto the transplant list.

“She is a really good person and a fighter,” Salas said. “I’m very proud of all our team. This is a case where many people will give up or don’t move forward.”

Guajardo was removed from the waiting list in October after she received a brand new heart.

She does not know whose heart is beating in her chest but is she’s very grateful to the donor.

“I’m very grateful for (the donor),” Guajardo expressed. “For them, for their family. It’s bittersweet. It’s a blessing to have a new heart this Christmas.”

And a blessing to be with 9-year-old Alfredo, and the rest of the Guajardo and De la Cruz families, who get to celebrate not only Victoria Guajardo’s new heart and life, but the Christmas season together again.

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