COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Every year, organ donations save hundreds of children's lives in Colorado, including one kindergarten from Colorado Springs.
Mason Burnette received a heart transplant nearly five and a half years ago. Thursday, he is looking forward to starting t-ball practice next week.
“He's healthier than ever, which is amazing,” said Mae, Burnette's mother.
Starting t-ball is a milestone she is very grateful for.
“He's the only one in our family with a heart condition, being born with one,” said Mae.
24 hours after Burnette was born, doctors found an issue with his heart.
“So everything really changed really fast,” said Mae.
Burnette was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. It is a heart condition where the ventricle doesn’t fully develop, so the heart couldn't pump enough blood to his body. At just four days old, Burnette had his first open heart surgery.
“Came out of that doing really well, we were home for two weeks. He had to go back and get a stent put in the shunt that he had done, which held him over until his second open heart surgery at four and a half months old, which was the hemifontan,” said Mae.
Mae said five days later, there were complications.
“He created a blood clot, branching from his aorta into his pulmonary arteries, that left his good side of his heart terrible, like he had no heart squeeze,” said Mae.
Burnette was placed on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) followed by a Ventricular Assisted Device (VAD) to help his heart function.
“He was five and a half months old, so it's like, well, what do you do when they're little? You just have to kind of figure it out, because they can't tell you how they feel,” said Mae.
Mae said she has a dream about a boy receiving a heart transplant. Soon after, Burnette’s doctors informed her he needed a heart transplant.
“So in 28 days, he went from a second open heart surgery to a heart transplant. It was really fast,” said Mae.
Burnette was placed on the transplant list. Seven days later, he received a donor heart.
“So, had it not been that week, he probably wouldn't have made it the next week,” said Mae.
She said getting the heart transplant within a week saved Burnette’s life.
“I believe that wholeheartedly,” said Mae.
Dr. Melanie Everitt is the Director of Pediatric Heart Transplant at Children's Hospital Colorado.
“It's truly amazing that Mason's donor organ came so soon, because that's not the case for many of the children waiting,” said Dr. Everitt.
She said for the majority of children, it's not common to need a transplant, but it's also not common for donor organs to be available.
“When both of those things do match up, it's unbelievable for the family who now is able to have a child who's undergone a heart transplant, and that child otherwise wouldn't have been able to leave the hospital and wouldn't have been able to lead these years of life and play t-ball and all of those things,” said Dr. Everitt.
The transplant team at Children's Hospital Colorado is made up of a number of medical professionals including the following:
- transplant pharmacists
- transplant social workers
- transplant psychologist
- physicians
- nurse practitioners
- a cardiothoracic surgeon who has special expertise in transplant and others
"The goal of our surgeries and medications for any baby who presents with a heart condition, and any child, is to hopefully delay heart transplant as long as possible. That is because there aren't enough donor organs available for all children who need them,” said Dr. Everitt.
She said when talking about organ donations, it's important to honor the donors lives and their families.
“That they are not forgotten, their child is not forgotten,” said Dr. Everitt. “You know, we recognize the lives of the donors and really want to honor those in all that we do.”
Mason's mom, Mae, said she now works to spread awareness and education about organ donation.
“His dad was not a donor before our child, and now he is. So, that's a big thing, you know, because a lot of people don't realize it until they feel like (they're) going through it,” said Mae.
It has been nearly five and a half years since Burnette's heart transplant. Finishing up kindergarten, Burnette is a happy and healthy kid who loves monster trucks and playing catching with his dad.
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