Sarnia’s Helen Van Sligtenhorst will never forget the overwhelming sense of hope she felt when she heard a new heart was found for her daughter Sydney.
The preceding days had been dark ones.
Twenty-four-year-old Sydney, normally a spunky young woman who loves to laugh, went into cardiac arrest following a history of cardio myopathy.
Doctors at University Hospital in London put her on life support and told Van Sligtenhorst and her husband, John Vrolyk, their daughter had a 48-hour window to find a new heart.
“Basically Sydney flat lined and they managed to stabilize her,” said Van Sligtenhorst. The hours ticked by.
Then, as Sydney held on into the 65th hour, a donor heart was located.
“At 2:55 a.m. on Tuesday, May 28, I got the call. They said, ‘We found your daughter a heart.’ I will never forget that time and date because it’s when I was given hope,” said Van Sligtenhorst. “A family we do not know gave us hope and we are so very grateful.”
It took about 10 hours of surgery for a team of doctors to complete the transplant.
Sometimes heart transplant patients wake up shortly afterward, but Sydney did not, said her mom.
“That first week (after surgery), I don’t think any of us were functioning,” she said. “We couldn’t sleep. We couldn’t eat. We just waited in the ICU for her to wake up.”
Three long days later, Sydney finally stirred. She woke up and said, “Hi, Mom.”
“I felt like I could breathe again,” said Van Sligtenhorst. “I was crying and smiling and grateful. I loved hearing those words.
“It’s a miracle. She’s our miracle.”
The doctors say Sydney has a long recovery ahead of her and it won’t be easy. She’s lost kidney function – hopefully temporarily – and has to be on dialysis three times a week. And she needs to take 21 pills a day.
But there are no signs of rejection and she was discharged from the hospital this week.
Her family is incredibly grateful to the anonymous donor family. Van Sligtenhorst said she will write them a letter of thanks in a few months.
“When I saw an echocardiogram of the heart pumping, I was overcome,” she said. “I appreciate that someone had to die in order to give my daughter life.
“We respect what the donor family has done for her.”
She urges everyone to register for organ donation.
Already Sydney is taking short walks and starting “to get her sass back,” said her mom. She’s also missing her friends because hospital protocol requires her to remain in London until late August for copious tests and to be nearby in case of any complication.
Sydney is used to a full life, jam-packed with volunteering, work, sports and friends. She lives with an exceptionality – Down Syndrome – and has competed and coached in Sarnia Special Olympics for years.
Sydney’s friends and her 125 fellow Special Olympic athletes wanted a way to show support so a fundraiser is ongoing, says Madison Linker, Sydney’s support worker and a Special Olympics volunteer.
She is spearheading a campaign involving #sydneystrong bracelets in Sydney’s favourite purple colour.
“The athletes and all her friends love wearing the bracelets,” said Linker, who has helped sell nearly 1,000 bracelets at $5 each in the last month.
All money raised is being donated to help Sydney’s parents with gas expenses and running two households while Sydney recovers in London. Her dad, John, drives from work in Sarnia to see Sydney regularly and her mom stays with her, having not been at her Harbour Bay Clothing store in downtown Sarnia since May.
“All of us want to help,” said Linker. “Sydney just lights up a room when she’s there. We miss her smiles.”
#sydneystrong bracelets are available for $5 cash at The Book Keeper on Exmouth Street (Northgate plaza) and at Harbour Bay Clothing & Gifts (186 Front St.). For more information about organ donation, contact S.O.D.A (Sarnia Organ DonorAwareness) at [email protected] or call 519-344-7777.