Two boys under the age of 10 were recently discharged from an Indianapolis hospital on back-to-back days after both children underwent successful heart transplant surgeries, People reported.
Staff at Riley Hospital for Children sang, cheered, and played music for 8-year-old Teddy Gomez and Aidyn Isley, 4, on their respective discharge days as the boys celebrated finally being able to leave the hospital with their new hearts.
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Although both youngsters needed the new organ, they were actually suffering from different ailments.
Teddy, who spent almost a year on the transplant list, had a rare form of degenerative heart muscle disease, which would cause his heart to stop beating completely if left untreated.
Aidyn was born with a dilated cardiomyopathy which caused one side of his heart to grow faster than the other, posing the serious risk of cardiac arrest. When he was admitted to the hospital, Aidyn’s heart was only functioning at 15 percent.
While waiting for his new heart, 8-year-old Teddy has celebrated several holidays at the hospital, including Christmas.
“Almost 11 months and it just feels unbelievable because we’ve been here for so long,” his mom, Amie Hastings said in a video posted to the hospital’s Facebook page.
Of the staff at Riley, she added, “I feel like they’re losing their baby. I feel like I have to share him with everybody!”
Cassie Isley, Aidyn’s mom, also shared that the family has become incredibly close to the doctors and nurses during her son’s stay.
“It’s so exciting, overwhelming,” she said of Aidyn’s discharge. “It’s bittersweet, we’re gonna miss everyone around here.”
Prior to his transplant, Aidyn suffered a terrifying near-death experience wherein the family found him unconscious and not breathing. But since receiving his new heart, Cassie says her son is “like a brand new kid”.
On July 20 the hospital shared a a touching video of the two boys being celebrated as they were finally discharged — and on back-to-back days, no less.
“We have a really hard job, especially on our floor, we see a lot of really, really sick kids,” heart center nurse Elise Strohl said in the video . “Getting to see these kids go home is the most rewarding part of our job.”
“You get attached to them especially when they’re here for so long,” she added. “You really do just get to know them really well.”
Now that he’s heading home for the first time in 11 months, Teddy certainly has some plans for his life outside the hospital.
In the video he revealed that he is most excited to “play with [his] cats and not have to eat bland food all day.”
For Aidyn’s family, they’re most looking forward to going home with their son and hopefully regaining some sense of normalcy.
