Margaret Gorrell

In early 2017, Kristen Gorrell suffered cardiac arrest during the middle of the night. Her husband, Bryce, performed lifesaving CPR. Soon afterward, Bryce and Kristen’s previously healthy baby, Margaret, fell ill. Doctors could not determine what was wrong. Soon, Margaret was so sick that Kristen and Bryce admitted her to the hospital, where she received a chest X-ray revealing her enlarged heart. With a resting heart rate of 200 beats per minute, she desperately needed a transplant.

Margaret spent five months in the intensive care unit on a device that kept her alive by helping her heart to pump. The call finally came in April 2018: Margaret would receive a lifesaving transplant.

“I remember being so grateful that someone could love our family enough to do that for us without even knowing us,” Kristen said.

Today, the Gorrells are filled with gratitude for Kristen’s life, and for Margaret’s life and her donor’s family.

“The victory is in the struggle,” Kristen said. “When you struggle for life, you appreciate it more.”