Donor heart gives Georgia two-year-old a second chance at life
Toddler returns home after heart transplant
A North Georgia toddler is improving after a heart transplant at one year old. After 7 months in the cardiac ICU at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Egleston, she is going home with her new heart.
ATLANTA - After 7 months at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, Tamara and Justin Harris and their 2-year-old daughter Rynli walked out of the cardiac ICU to cheers from the staff, headed home to Dahlonega, Georgia, with Rynli's new heart.
"She's full of joy," Tamara Harris says. "She's always happy, and she's so strong."
The Harrises had known from the beginning that Rynli, adopted from China in 2018, had dilated cardiomyopathy, a thickening and weakening of her heart muscle that could cause it to fail at any time.
Rynli Harris became the 400th child to under a heart transplant at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. (Harris family photo)
Tamara says they had 10 months as a family to love on Rynli, until that day finally arrived.
Tamara and Justin Harris adopted their sixth child Rynli from China in 2018.
"We had tried to prepare the best way we could, but nothing can compare you for that moment when you know your daughter's heart is failing, and you don't know what that next hour holds," she says.
Rushed to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston in Rynli Harris was critically ill.
Rynli Harris plays at the beach a few months before the now 2-year-old went into heart failure.
"The first night was rough," Tamara Harris remembers. "We were surrounded, around the bed, by the entire team. They stayed with us most of the night, not knowing what that night would hold."
Rynli would hang on through a series of heart surgeries to shore up her heart, and try to buy the transplant team sometime to find a donor heart.
Rynli Harris spent months undergoing surgeries to shore up her failing heart before receiving a new heart March 25, 2021.
She was placed on a heart transplant waiting list in November of 2020.
Tamara Harris says a team of Children's cardiac ICU nurses cared for Rynli, the youngest of their 6 children, around the clock.
Rynli Harris, 2, spent 7 months in the cardiac ICU of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston before receiving a heart transplant March 25, 2021.
"They have prayed with us, they have laughed with us, and they have held us," she says.
Then, one night in late March, the couple got the call a donor heart had been found for Rynli.
Rynli Harris, 2, spent 7 months in the cardiac ICU of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston before receiving a heart transplant March 25, 2021.
"We just held each other and cried and celebrated," her mother says. "It was probably one of the best moments of my life, with the full understanding of what that meant for someone else."
March 25, 2021, Dr. Fawwaz Shaw, surgical director of Children's heart transplant program, performed Rynli's transplant.
It was Children's Healthcare of Atlanta 400th heart transplant.
Rynli Harris underwent a heart transplant at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta March 25, 2021.
"With each of these kids, I think we give everything we can as a team, and everything we can as an organization in order to provide them with the absolute best care that we can," Dr. Shaw says.
"These are always incredibly challenging. Every heart transplant is incredibly challenging, because we often think of the donors and their families also."
Tamara Harris says Rynli's new heart has given them hope.
Rylni Harris, 2, after her heart transpant at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.
"A heart transplant is not a cure, by any means," she says. "Medical will always be a part of our life, and there is a chance she might need another transplant one day. But, it does give us hope for tomorrow."
Rynli Harris, 2, spent 7 months in the cardiac ICU of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston before receiving a heart transplant March 25, 2021.
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