Heart transplant recipient encourage people to become organ donors

Valentine's Day has special meaning for heart transplant recipient

A woman living in Grayson is sharing her transplant story and urging people to become organ donors as thousands of people remain on the waitlist across Georgia.

GRAYSON, Ga. - A woman living in Grayson is sharing her transplant story and urging people to become organ donors as thousands of people remain on the waitlist across Georgia.

What they're saying:

Monica Davis works as a therapist by day, but as she and her husband, Kweku Davis, grew their family, she said everything started to change.

"In 2010, I had twin daughters, and I was 42 years old," she said. "Shortly after I had them, I found out that I had congestive heart failure."

Davis said she saw numerous doctors and specialists for more than a decade.

Then in 2023, as she was visiting her father in Chicago, she was sent to the emergency room.

"They did so many tests, so many assessments and all of that, and they said, ‘You have a year left to live if you don't get a transplant,’" she said. "I was like, ‘Lord, what happened? Like, you got the wrong Monica.’"

Kweku was there to support her along the way.

"I had to depend on the doctors to make her well, make her better, but also ultimately, depend on God because he's over everybody," he said.

Davis said she had trouble walking and had a persistent cough as her condition progressed.

She was hospitalized in December but was soon told she had a heart.

"There's a small window between harvesting the person's organs and taking out mine and putting them in," she said. "I was in the ER for like three-and-a-half hours waiting for the heart. The surgeon came in and said it wasn't a good match, so I had to get back on the list and wait again."

Then in February 2024, Davis was told she had matched with a donor and went under the knife.

"I was just so grateful, to be honest with you," she said. "I know that now somebody's last act before they left was to give me a second chance at life. I don't know who my donor is, but I'm so grateful to them and their family."

What we know:

According to LifeLink of Georgia, there are about 3,000 people who are on the organ waitlist in the Peach State.

"Donors are needed," Davis said. "I was told I had a year left, so if someone didn't donate their organs, their heart to me, then I wouldn't be here now."

This year, Monica and Kweku celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary.

What you can do:

People can register to be an organ donor here.