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By Dick Kaukas, The Courier-Journal
The recipient said he "cried real good"
when he found out where the transplanted heart beating so
smoothly in his chest had come from.
A few days after the operation, hospital officials told him
that it had been donated by the family of Quinn Connally,
a 12-year-old Massachusetts boy who died Dec. 5, the day after
a puck hit him in the back of the neck as he was doing what
he liked best, playing hockey.
The recipient, 30, received Quinn's heart during surgery at
Jewish Hospital in Louisville, KY, Dec. 6 and has been recovering
uneventfully since then.
Quinn's father Stephen Connally, said in a telephone interview
that it "was the most difficult decision I ever made,"
explaining that the family had not previously considered organ
donation because they never thought anything like this would
happen to their young, healthy son.
Connally added, however, that he's sure that Quinn would have
agreed with the decision to give his heart to someone else
who could use it.
"I have to believe he would have. He was the type of
person who teased his sister without mercy, but as soon as
she had a scratch on her knee, he was crying with her."
"He was just a kind person."
Saying that he had not done a lot of public speaking before,
the recipient expressed his gratitude in a quavering voice.
The only sign that he was being epically careful about his
health was the filter he wore over his mouth part of the time
to reduce his chances of catching a cold.
"I want to thank the family for having the courage to
donate their son's heart to me and give me a second chance
at life," the recipient said, adding that he will be
a compliant patient because "now I am living Quinn's
life too. I am living for two people."
Dr. Robert Dowling, who performed the operation -- one of
19 heart transplants at the hospital last year -- said he
had fleeting concerns about whether the heart of a 12-year-old
boy would be strong enough for a 30-year-old man.
"But that would have shown up early, and it hasn't been
a problem," Dowling said.
The recipient, formerly employed by a food-service company
and the holder of other jobs before his heart problems left
him disabled, said he wants to work hard on his rehabilitation,
volunteer for Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates, the organ procurement
organization in Kentucky, and then decide what he wants to
do.
More generally, he said, "I'm just going to be with my
family, and be happy."
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