At 9:30 p.m. on December 23rd, David and Linda Silverton answered a call they had hoped and prayed would come soon. The caller said that a doctor on the heart transplant team was picking up a donor heart for their little girl, Emily, who was born Oct. 11, 2021.
The walnut-sized gift was what she needed to survive. For the previous two months, David and Linda had lived at the Intensive Care Unit at the Children Hospital with Emily, who was born with a serious heart defect. This good news also brought paralyzing fear.
As a new mom, Linda was so anxious that she had to breathe into a paper bag at times. She knew the risks of the surgery, but she also knew that her baby girl could not survive long without a new heart. The Silvertons who attend a local Christ-honoring, Bible-believing Church here in Tulsa, stayed up throughout the night, calling their families and friends to pray. The donor family was at the top of their prayer list. They understood that Emily’s best chance to live came from someone else’s worst loss!
“So much was at stake,” Linda said. “We knew this was Emily’s only chance. We’d been waiting for that phone call almost from the day she was born. But once it came, we knew how risky it was for our baby.” Early the next morning, the family camped in the waiting room outside the operating unit. Surgeons sent progress reports to them on a regular basis.
When Emily’s blood pressure sky-rocketed and her heart rate dropped at one point in the surgery, the Silvertons went to the hospital chapel to get on their knees to pray. They couldn’t find the words beyond begging and pleading with God. Then six hours later the surgery was over. When they saw their baby after the transplant, they were amazed that her color had already improved. “In spite of the tubes and lines into and out of her little body, Emily actually looked good to me,” Linda said.
Heart transplants in newborn babies are rare. According to the chief of the cardiovascular surgery team at the Children’s Hospital, less than one percent of babies are born with a heart defect. The majority of those defects can be repaired with surgery.
Emily recovered quickly, and the Silvertons took her home January the 11th. Now eight months old, Emily is still tiny for her age, but her personality is bigger than life. She tries to fit her foot into her mouth, smiles at strangers, and plays with her toys. The only clue to her heart transplant is the thin scar that runs down the middle of her chest. Emily’s new heart will grow with her day by day. Since there isn’t much data on those who received heart transplants as newborns, no one knows what’s ahead for her. Linda said the only precaution taken is to keep her from viruses and bacteria.
Emily’s heart transplant has been life changing! Linda said she savors “day-to-day normal.” “I’ve learned to be more patient and so grateful that she’s with us,”Linda shared. “I don’t take anything for granted. Emily continues to amaze me, and as many times a day as I can remember to say it, I thank God for her life.” Linda said she keeps a note card taped to her mirror that says, “I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done” (Psalm 118: 17). She is telling everyone now, “My dream is for Emily to continue to be a light for Christ Jesus to everyone in her path,” Linda said.
The Silvertons emphasize that Emily is alive because another baby had to die and that the family chose to donate their baby’s heart so another child could live. They urge everyone to sign the back of their driver’s license so they can be an organ donor.
John T. Catrett, III Scissortail Hospice Chaplain 306 North Main Street, Suite E Bristow, OK 74010 918.352.3080