Two baby boys. One tiny heart.

February 10, 2011

Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007

Two baby boys were born. One was perfectly healthy and one had a heart defect. One would die, allowing the other to live.

In Houston, the Walker family welcomed their first child, Johnston, into their lives. Johnston's parents, LaMonica and Kevin, cuddled their new son and counted all of his fingers and toes. Family members who had come to visit passed Johnston around so everyone could hold him.

* * *

In Plano, Maddie and Gray Harrison saw their first child, Keegan, for only a few minutes after he was born. An ambulance took the baby boy from the hospital where he was born to Children's Medical Center. Keegan, who was diagnosed in utero with Tetralogy of Fallot, or "blue baby syndrome," needed emergency surgery to repair this congenital heart defect.

Maddie and Gray followed their hours-old son to Children's and arrived in time to kiss him goodbye as nurses wheeled him into an operating room. It would be 10 hours before the Harrisons saw their son again.

"We were expecting to see Keegan in recovery," Maddie said. "But instead, we were called into a conference room."

Doctors told the Harrisons that Keegan's heart was in worse condition than originally thought. They hooked up Keegan to an ECMO machine, which would do the work for his heart and lungs. He wouldn't survive without it. 

Friday, Sept. 14, 2007

LaMonica and Kevin Walker bundled up Johnston for his first car ride. They headed home and started life as a family of three. Johnston settled into a routine of waking up every few hours for feedings, and sleep deprivation for the first-time parents began. They were enjoying every minute of it.

* * *

Doctors at Children's told Keegan's parents that their son needed a heart transplant to survive. "We assumed it was the end of things," Maddie said. "No one had to tell us how difficult it would be to get a tiny heart for our son."

Maddie and Gray decided that no matter how sad they were feeling, they would be positive around Keegan.

"If these were his last days, we wanted him to know how happy he made us," Maddie said.

As Keegan's name was moved to the top of the transplant waiting list, Maddie and Gray never left his side. They kept friends and family up-to-date on Keegan's status by posting on their family blog.

Sunday, Sept. 16, 2007

LaMonica and 4-day-old Johnston took a nap after watching their church service online. When LaMonica woke up, she saw that Johnston's face had changed color. Kevin gave his son CPR and revived him. The couple rushed their son to the hospital.

* * *

In Dallas, doctors told the Harrisons that Keegan would need a new heart in two to three weeks before multiple organ failure set in. So they posted a prayer request on their blog: that their 4-day-old son's organs would function long enough for a newborn donor heart to become available.

Monday, Sept. 17, 2007

Doctors told LaMonica and Kevin that their baby had irreversible brain damage and wouldn't survive.

"They ran all kinds of tests and couldn't figure out why he died," LaMonica said. The cause of death is listed as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS.

"Sometimes I'm still in shock," LaMonica said. "In my mind, it wasn't supposed to be like this."

LaMonica and Kevin made a decision that would change another family's life forever. They chose to donate Johnston's organs.

"It was hard because we wanted to keep our hope," LaMonica said. "But ultimately we had to come to terms with it."

Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007

While Maddie and Gray sat with Keegan in his Cardiac ICU room at Children's, they were asked to come into a conference room again. They braced themselves for more bad news.

When they walked into the room, a team of heart specialists began clapping and cheering. A heart perfectly sized for Keegan's body had become available. It was Johnston's.

 "We were feeling the grief of losing our child in one instant, and in the next instant, we had a heart," Maddie said. "It was a lot to take in."

Later that day, Gray updated the family's blog:

"We were also told by the nurse coordinator that the mother of the donor would more than likely want to know about Keegan and would more than likely make contact. She couldn't give us any more information than that . . . . Maddie and I really do feel blessed by this gift that we have been given. We also want to keep the family of the donor in our thoughts and prayers. That truly is the ultimate sacrifice and gift."

Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007

Dr. Kristine Guleserian implanted Johnston's heart into Keegan. He was only 7 days old and weighed five pounds, making him the smallest and youngest person in Texas to ever undergo a heart transplant.

December 2010

As Keegan continued to grow, the Harrisons kept friends and family up-to-date on their family. They posted stories about Keegan's continued health problems and others about all the milestones Keegan has achieved, like birthdays, the first day of preschool and playing with his little sister.

LaMonica and Kevin followed the Harrisons' blog, and Maddie and LaMonica kept in touch through email. In late 2010, the Walkers decided it was the right time to meet the little boy who is alive because of their son.

On December 23, Johnston's and Keegan's families met each other face-to-face for the first time at the Harrison's home in Plano.

Meeting Johnston's parents, and his little brother, Kingsley, 16 months, made Maddie feel at peace. "I feel a calm and completeness that I cannot even put into words. We have loved this family without knowing them until now." 

LaMonica and Kevin used a stethoscope to listen to Johnston's heart beating in Keegan's chest.

"We never doubted our decision to donate Johnston's organs," LaMonica said. "And now we see why. Our baby did good."
See the Walkers and Harrisons meet face-to-face for the first time.