Family spreading organ donation message after 2-year-old receives new heart


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SALT LAKE CITY — Organ donation has been in the news a lot this week after the family of a young Philadelphia girl successfully challenged a policy that kept her from receiving lungs from an adult donor. She got those new lungs Wednesday.

A Utah family got a similar call earlier this week — in this case, for a heart. Julie Alexander, whose 2-year-old son received that heart, says children in need of organ donations deserve a second chance, and no one can fully understand that until they've experienced it themselves.

In January, Zack Alexander was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, or congested heart failure. His young heart was functioning at only 20 percent, and in March doctors at Primary Children's Medical Center put him on the transplant list.

"We were here 89 days waiting for a heart, and on Tuesday morning we got a call for a heart," Julie Alexander said.

That night, Zack underwent successful heart transplant surgery.

"It was like all of the sudden there was going to be a light at the end of the tunnel," Julie said.

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But her fears aren't over. Dilated cardiomyopathy is a genetic disorder, and she was diagnosed with it two years ago.

"It didn't even occur to me that it might be passed on to my kids. I just thought, ‘I wonder where it came from in my family?'" she said.

Now she wonders if her 6-year-old daughter will develop the disorder as well. "She kept saying, ‘Mommy, I don't want to have any babies. I don't want this to happen to my heart,'" Julie said.

Zack's transplant has changed his dad's perspective on organ donations for children. Recently, Shane Alexander became a donor.

"I think they deserve a second chance," Shane said.

As for Julie, she never questioned it.

"For someone who has to deal with the loss of a child or a family member, for them to donate life is a huge blessing," she said.

Doctors say Zack will stay in the hospital for the next two to six weeks. His family has set up this Facebook page to share his journey. Follow along at www.facebook.com/zacksbiglittleheart.

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Devon Dolan

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