Organ donation let Julia Strecher live a full life; her family hopes more will register as donors
Julia Strecher was just a baby when she underwent her first heart transplant.
The transplanted heart came from a boy, and Julia, as she got older, was struck by this oddity, her father recalled.
Julia, who underwant a second heart transplant when she was 9, came to realize at a young age that every day is gift. She was alive because others had been willing to give, and Julia never squandered those gifts, her father said.
"The transplants allowed her to live a very full life. She had been around the world a couple of times and she had a lot of friends. She was a student at the U of M School of Nursing, which she was very proud of."
She was this really amazing girl who knew way more than most people do at any age, probably because of her circumstances," said Meg Zamberlan, the transplant coordinator nurse at the pediatric cardiology unit at C.S. Mott Chidren's Hospital at the University of Michigan.
"The Ann Arbor Community High School graduate died on March 2, at the age of
19. Her family and friends say she lived with a passion that left traces in the
lives of everyone she touched.
Julia's was born a healthy baby in the Netherlands, where her family was living at the time. She caught chicken pox at about 7 months.
"Many kids get that, but this one attacked her heart," said her father. "I remember asking our cardiologist if there was anything that could be done, even a heart transplant. He said oh, no, those don't work. Just take her home and let her die."
The family came back to the United States with baby Julia. Her physicians at theUniversity of North Carolina, where Strecher was teaching at the time, discussed the possibility of a heart transplant.
Julia received her first heart transplant on Valentine's Day in 1991. She was 9 months old.
At the age of 9, Julia needed a second heart transplant. Even as a young child, Julia seemed to realize she was given a second chance at life, and she was determined to overcome her fears and live life to the fullest.
"She could easily have been a hospital kid, but she wasn't," said Zamberlan. "She had to endure tons of checkups, she had headaches, and had all kinds of medical issues going on, but you would never know it."
Artistic, intelligent and stunningly beautiful, Julia got on with her life, attending Community High School. While there she realized she was about to transition into adulthood, which meant learning to take charge of her own health care.
"Kids are used to their parents taking care of them, and giving them their medicines," her father said.
Julia approached Mott and asked if she could address that issue. She developed a program for children, starting about about age 9. It teaches them to start asking questions directly to doctors, instead of through their parents. They learn a little bit about what their medication is for, the name of it, and how and when to take it.
For older kids, Julia also incorporated lessons on sexual health, social lifestyle, education, vocation and financial planning. She included the parents in the program too.
"A lot of times the parents are so used to being involved they don't allow their kids to have the independent control that they might be able to handle," said Zamberlan.
Remembering Julia
- To honor Julia's memory, her family has set up the Julia Fund to support a pediatric cardiology fellowship and continuing education for nurses.
- To donate, click here.
"She had a good death," Vic Strecher said. "She was very afraid of dying alone, and she was also just as afraid of dying hooked up to a lot of tubes, of being invaded and being in a lot of pain.
"The night before she died we all had a wonderful meal. She was jumping waves with her boyfriend, taking long walks, and had a huge smile on her face. We were so happy to see her so happy."
Julia's father; her mother, Jeri Rosenberg, and older sister, Rachael, are thankful for the 19 years Julia had, made possible because somebody else's parents were willing to donate the organs of their children. Her family now wants others to know what a difference such a choice can make.
Julia's first heart came from a boy killed in a hit-and-run accident.
"I think that it's such a difficult decision when the worst happens to your child," Vic Strecher said. "The last thing you're thinking about very often is something like this. We've spoken with the parents of the donors for Julia. I think both of them got solace from knowing that the death of their child helped with the life of another child."
Strecher acknowledged that his daughter and everyone who knew her would have liked for her to have lived live longer.
"But at the same time she understood the need to live a full life and do everything she could." Strecher said. "We're very happy that she was able to have done that. We could not have done that without people selfless enough to be willing to donate organs of their loved ones. I think it's important for them to know that the lives of children who receive these organs can be very full lives and mean a lot to other people as well."
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