A Christmas wish for a new heart comes true on New Year's Day
While the world around them toasted, the Largo Hospital transplant team shared a precious milestone with the hospital's 100th heart transplant patient
Each year on December 31, people around the world celebrate the end of the year and the beginning of a new one. For 62-year old, Phillip Allen, this year will forever mark the birth of a new life full of hope and gratitude. Allen was diagnosed with a serious heart condition which severely impacted his quality of life and would lead to an early death if he did not receive a heart transplant.
“Dr. Andrew Boyle, my heart failure physician, came into my room and said that we would soon become new best friends – his goal was to get me a new heart by the end of the year. It deeply touched my heart that a specialist doctor would declare to help me. I knew I was in the right place at Largo Hospital,” shared Allen.
On December 14, 2024 while Allen was a hospital patient waiting for a new heart, Largo Hospital hosted a special holiday celebration where Santa asked Allen what he wanted for Christmas. “A new heart” was the only item on his wish list. Little did Allen know, he would receive his life-saving call on New Year’s Eve after the transplant team received a perfect match.
“On a night when the world celebrated the end of one cycle and the beginning of another, the quiet, brightly lit operating room became the stage for a unique renewal – the beating of a new heart, carrying hope for a life that once seemed uncertain. When the monitor signals the first beats of a newly transplanted heart, there is a greater meaning,” explained heart transplant surgeon, Dr. Alexandre Colafranceschi.
The transplant team all shared in the celebration of life for the 100th patient who received a second chance. “May the new year bring renewal, health and the certainty that every life is a unique and precious celebration,” said Dr. Colafranceschi.
HCA Florida Largo Hospital performed its first heart transplant in March 2020 and has now transformed the life of 100 patients with a life-saving heart transplant. The hospital also performs organ transplantation for liver and kidney failure.