Heart transplant gives Newark man chance to be grandpa

• Newark resident Henry "Kennie" Hayes had a successful heart transplant in March.
• He is grateful to his donor for giving him the chance to be there for his family.

NEWARK – In the spring of 2015, doctors told Henry "Kennie" Hayes he only had 10 to 12 months to live.

Hayes can't talk about that time without getting emotional. About a month and a half after receiving his new heart, he is overwhelmed with gratitude for the donor who saved his life.This only hope of staying alive, and being there to help raise his two grandsons, was to receive a heart transplant.

"Someone lost a family member so that I could live and we don’t take that lightly," he said.

The Newark man recently returned home after spending several weeks living at the Unverferth House on the campus of the Ohio State University Medical Center.

He still has to travel to Columbus every two weeks for doctor appointments and will go through rehabilitation at Licking Memorial Hospital. But his family is thrilled to have him home, his daughter Cassie Hayes wrote in an email.

"My dad is so strong," she wrote. "He has fought so hard to be here for his family, especially his grandkids."

A Navy veteran during the Vietnam era, Hayes moved to Ohio in 1972. He and his wife, Mary Frances, raised two children, and are very involved in their grandsons' lives.

A decade ago, he was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat, but doctors couldn't identify the cause.

In February of 2015, he began experiencing swelling in his abdomen and couldn't breathe.

It got so bad, he had to prop himself up on pillows while he slept sitting up. There were days he felt so starved for air, he had to stick his head out a window.

"Just walking took a tremendous amount of energy," he said.

That March he went to OSU and doctors told him he was in congestive heart failure. His heart wasn't pumping enough blood through his body.

Doctors believe a virus he had the year before had weakened his heart.

Several months after his diagnosis, doctors implanted a left ventricular assist device, which is a pump used for patients in end-stage heart failure.

The pump helped circulate blood through the rest of his body. But it was only intended to be a temporary measure.

"Within days of that being implanted I felt like a new person," he said. "But it’s strictly a lifesaver. It keeps you alive until you can get a heart.

Hayes was placed on the transplant list, hoping a donor would be found. On March 16, he got the call and rushed to OSU.

His surgery was successful. Now doctors are focused on monitoring his immune system to make sure there is no chance of rejection. He takes about 35 pills a day and has to wear a mask when he's in public.

Because he had to go back to the hospital for tests during the first month after surgery, OSU allowed his family to stay at the Unverferth House, which provides furnished apartments for heart transplant recipients and their families.

The house is named for OSU cardiologist Donald V. Unverferth, who helped found the hospital's heart transplant program. Families who live outside of Franklin County can stay there for free while their loved ones are being treated.

"The importance of that program is just unreal," Hayes said.

Through his recovery process, Hayes met people of all ages living at the house who were struggling with different heart problems.

"I've been very fortunate," he said. "Some of these people are not."

Although he may never find out who his donor was, he'll always be overwhelmed with gratitude that he got a second chance to be with his family.

"Right now it’s strictly thankfulness," he said.  "I know that if it hadn’t been for the doctors at OSU and the donor family, you wouldn’t be talking to me now."

He's passionate about encouraging people to donate to the Unverferth House and he's hoping to raise awareness about the importance of being an organ donor.

"I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met who have been saved or seen their health improved by a transplant," he said. "They can save someone else."

Their entire family is thrilled to see him so happy and healthy, his daughter wrote.

"(My Dad) means the world to us and the person who gave us this gift didn't die in vain," she wrote. "Their heart went to a person who is very loved and respected and admired."

ajeffries@newarkadvocate.com

740-328-8544

Twitter: @amsjeffries 

Learn more

To learn more about the Unverferth House and how to support the families staying there, go to unverferthhouse.org. 

To find out more about organ donation, or learn how to sign up to be a donor, go to donatelifeohio.org.