Conner’s Story

Bio by Connor Randall

Connor is a two-time heart transplant recipient. When he was three months old he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy – essentially his heart was not growing with him. It was determined early on that he needed a heart transplant in order to survive. This was back in the early 1990’s when infant heart transplantation was essentially a new technology. Connor and his family waited for three long months and he received his new heart on Mother’s Day of 1992 from a little boy from Texas. The surgery was a great success and he in many ways became a poster child for organ donation, volunteering as an ambassador for Children’s Hospital, The American Heart Association, and Donor Alliance.Connor ran into issues again in July of 2003 when he fainted and it was discovered that he was in the beginning stages of coronary artery disease, a form of rejection. Things got worse and worse, and Connor got sicker and sicker, until it was determined that another heart transplant was the only course of action. The rejection progressed to the point where he likely only had a couple of weeks left to live. And then, just in time, the call came in. In July of 2005, after 13 long months, the miracle happened again when they got the call that a heart was waiting for him. This time from a 21 year old male. Now over 11 years post-transplant, Connor feels fantastic and lives a healthy, fun life. He only goes to the hospital once every few months for routine checkups. Connor went on to graduate from high school as President of his senior class, and then graduated from Regis University in Denver with a degree in Political Economy. He now works as the Reader for the Colorado House of Representatives.  It was when his parents, Mark and Linda, helped found an organization called Cardiac Kids, a support group for Children’s Hospital cardiac patients and their families, that they first came to know Samantha and the Remington family. Connor and Sammy were fast friends and were able to connect over their unique shared experience of being a heart transplant patient. They supported each other through tough times and Connor will always remember Sammy’s truly infectious smile.

-Told by Connor and his parents