BROWARD COUNTY (CBS Miami)
South Florida doctors say heart transplants are at a record high in the United States.
“I wouldn’t be as strong as I am if he wasn’t as strong as he is,” says mother Morgan Crowley.
Crowley’s son, Steve, 2, has been in the hospital since birth.
Steve was born with left heart hypoplasia syndrome, which means he is missing the left side of his heart.
The Crowley family lived at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital for 12 months – and were unlucky enough to receive a heart.
“It was very difficult,” says Crowley. “But we’re not giving up.”
There are hundreds of people on the heart transplant list, and it continues to grow not because more people are sick, but because more people can live longer without an immediate transplant.
“There will always be more people on the list than hearts available,” says Dr. Michael J. Sasevich, a cardiothoracic surgeon at HCA Florida Kendall Hospital. “With the use of medicine and other surgeries, patients were able to live longer.”
Although the need will always be there, doctors encourage families of all ages to become organ donors.
“I wish people would tell their families they want to be organ donors,” says Dr. Frank Scholl of Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital.
For more information about organ donation, Click here.
