After 14 months waiting for heart transplants in the hospital, young friends Emmitt and Bella are matched with the gift of life just weeks apart.
By Maureen Gilmer, Riley Children’s Health senior writer, mgilmer1@iuhealth.org
After more than a year of living at Riley Hospital for Children while waiting for their hero hearts, Emmitt Abbott and Bella Sutton couldn’t help but wiggle their way into the hearts of their Riley team.
How could they not? The two precocious kids celebrated birthdays and holidays together on the Heart Center, played endless games, worked on crafts, watched the “wagon” drop on Noon Year’s Eve, sang silly songs, set up tattoo tables, and sometimes even argued with each other like brother and sister.
Riley was home for a big chunk of their young lives.
It’s fitting then that Bella, 8, and Emmitt, 4, received the gift of a heart transplant within weeks of each other. Bella was transplanted May 21, and Emmitt on June 8, both surgeries performed by Dr. Mark Turrentine.
Emmitt, currently on day 447 at Riley, is recovering on the step-down unit still, and he and his mom, Savannah Aughinbaugh, will stay at Ronald McDonald House for a few weeks when he is discharged so the heart team can continue monitoring his progress.
Bella was discharged June 4 after 434 days in the hospital, but not without a joyful parade as is customary on the unit. She is doing great at home, said her mom, Amy Sutton, playing with her siblings “all day every day.”
“The first thing she did at home was run in and give her siblings a big hug, then demanded dinner,” Sutton said with a laugh.
The plan was to make tacos, but that didn’t work out, “so we had breakfast for dinner – eggs, toast and bacon.”
Emmitt’s first meal at Riley after recovering from surgery was chicken nuggets, but he’s also had his share of pancakes and other treats. He’s hoping to be home in time for his birthday next month, after celebrating his last birthday in the hospital.
During a break from walking the unit for exercise this week, he and his mom settled in for a little nap in his tiny bed, while he watched “Paw Patrol” on his tablet. Asked if he wanted chocolate or vanilla cake for his birthday, he thought hard for a second, before announcing: “Maybe like a rainbow cake! Yeah!”
From his lips to mom’s ears.
Through the wonders of technology, specifically gaming systems, the two heart warriors have reconnected online, talking and laughing like they’re still just around the corner from each other, rather than separated by 75 miles. Bella lives in Dunkirk, Indiana.
“We couldn’t be happier,” Sutton said about having her little girl home again. “It was a very long 14 months, but now we have all the time in the world to catch up on all the things she loves.”
Someday, Bella says, she’ll be back to work at Riley as a nurse. She already had on-the-job training, thanks to some of her favorite nurses who deputized her as a junior charge nurse.
Meanwhile, the Heart Center will be a lot quieter without young Emmitt when he is discharged with his own parade, perhaps next week. The almost-5-year-old is well-known on the unit for his exuberance and big heart.
Wrapped up in his Ninja Turtle blanket with his mom at his side, Emmitt was looking forward to a session of pretend grilling with his recreational therapist, Mary Myers, on Tuesday.
The journey has not been an easy one, and both families are still looking at years of follow-up appointments, tests and medications, but they are grateful to the selfless families who donated their loved ones’ hearts and to the Riley team who saw them through all the ups and downs of the past 14 months.
“Dr. T is the best, and we love Dr. (Michael) Ross and Dr. (Michael) Johansen,” Aughinbaugh said. “And he loves all the nurses, of course.”
Riley Hospital’s Cardiology and Heart Surgery program is ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.
Learn more about organ donation here: indianadonornetwork.org
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