After three transplants, Minneapolis mom is encouraging more people to register as organ donors
MINNEAPOLIS – Tuesday was not only Valentine's Day, but also National Donor Day.
Melanie Wickersheim, a Minneapolis mother who's undergone two heart transplants, has made it her mission to share how life-changing organ donations can be.
Wickersheim needed a heart last year, nearly three decades after her first transplant.
"I was 10 years old when I was diagnosed with myocarditis," Wickersheim said. "I just became very sick, very suddenly. I was very close to dying at that point."
But a match came through. Wickersheim says she went on to do everything a person could imagine in life, including finding love and having a daughter.
"That dream kind of came to a halt in 2020 when I had a heart attack," she said.
Wickersheim had transplant coronary artery disease. The only treatment was another transplant. She waited two months for a donor match.
"I would wake up everyday thinking, 'Is this the day that I'm going to get the call, or is this the day that my heart's going to give out?'" Wickersheim said.
The new heart came thanks in part to new technology that keeps the donor heart beating, adding hours to the amount of time it can be in transit.
"It's a huge game-changer," said Erin Hannibal, the heart transplant coordinator at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. "It allows us to open the pool of donors that we're looking at for our recipients, essentially casting a wider net."
Wickersheim says she honors her donor by being as healthy as she can be. She has profound gratefulness for her gift.
"Registering to be an organ donor is an act of love," Wickersheim said. "Being generous in this way is just so powerful."
Wickersheim also needed a kidney last year, which she received from the same donor on the same day as her heart.
More than 100,000 people are on the transplant waiting list, and there aren't enough donors for all of them.
Become a donor at RegisterMe.org.
