AUSTIN, Texas — The coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on all areas of medical care, including transplants. The number of donors went down dramatically, and those who are waiting – especially children – hope people will step back up and sign up for organ and tissue donations.
From the moment she was born, Emersyn's parents treasured her sweet smile and her heart full of joy. They relished watching her learn to walk, swim and dance to her favorite Disney songs.
But Emmy's little heart had a problem. Her mother, Maggie Haynie, just knew something wasn't right.
"Up until she was 18 months, we had a completely normal life," she said. "What they found was she had a condition called dilated cardiomyopathy and that her heart was severely damaged."
Emmy was put on the heart transplant list. She and thousands of other children are still waiting.
"Pediatric transplants ... for good reason, they're hard to come by and it's very scary when you know your kid is going to need one," Haynie said. "We have been very fortunate that we have been able to, with medicine, to keep her heart at a place where she is able to live here and we're not hospitalized."
According to Children's Medical Center Dallas, more than 2,000 children nationwide are waiting for a transplant. Close to 200 of them are in Texas and 25% of them are under five years old.
August is National Minority Donor Awareness Month. It highlights the need for donors from diverse communities because those waiting for a transplant will have a better chance of receiving an organ if there are large numbers of donors from their ethnic background.
Haynie and her family partnered with the charity Children's Organ Transplant Association to raise money to help pay for Emmy's medical care. Soon, she'll turn seven, and her family treats every moment with the little girl as a gift.
"There's a lot of families that have to go through this, and that's tragic," Haynie said. "A lot of people die every day because they don't receive transplants. So, it's imperative, I think, for people to at least acknowledge that's a choice that they have, and they can save people's lives and kid's lives."
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