When it comes to matters of the heart, Linda Thibodeaux and Jordan Merecka know more than most. They are both heart transplant survivors -- healthy, young and, now, unexpectedly in love.
Their romance began when they were both waiting for new hearts at a Houston hospital. Last May, Linda was lucky enough to find a match, and began the long road to recovery and a normal life.
Meanwhile, Jordan was facing his own challenges. Still without a match, doctors decided to give him a new artificial heart. The revolutionary procedure made him the first total artificial heart transplant patient at Texas Children's Hospital, won him national recognition, and even earned him a place on a Times Square JumboTron. But still, the tubes and plastic couldn't replace a real, beating heart, and Jordan continued to wait.
The couple's first encounter wasn't exactly a chance one. "Our physical therapists and our nurses thought we should meet," Jordan told KTRK. So they did -- Linda, Jordan, and the 400-pound apparatus that powered Jordan's heart. Cozy, right? "They brought Linda out of her room in her mask and everything, and I was on 'Big Blue' [the machine] in the hallway," he said. "And I'm not going to lie, it was kind of an awkward meeting at first."
Read more: http://www.hlntv.com/article/2012/04/23/heart-transplant-patients-couple-romance
{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
No comments:
Post a Comment