MINNEAPOLIS — "Deciding to be a registered donor is an act of love," Melanie Wickersheim said.
Wickersheim was just 10 years old when she went through her first heart transplant.
"I was sick very suddenly with myocarditis, which is a virus that attacks the heart muscle, and became very frail," Wickersheim said. "I was skin and bones."
Recovery went well and Wickersheim went on to live 27 years with her second heart.
"I got the opportunity to go back to school, go back to sixth grade; got to go to college, find my passion, went to grad school, got married and had a child three years ago. So I've got a 3-year-old daughter," Wickersheim said. "And then I ended up having a heart attack in 2020 and, at that point, we realized my heart was beginning to fail from transplant coronary disease."
On April 16, 2022, she received two transplants in one day — her second heart in addition to a kidney, the latter necessary because of the effects of medications over the years.
Erin Hannibal is Melanie's nurse and a heart transplant coordinator with Allina Health.
"She's been able to live and enjoy life and spend time with her family and she makes an effort every day to be a good steward of that gift," Hannibal said.
A gift Melanie believes extends far beyond her life.
"It wasn't just me that was saved that day. It was my whole family. My daughter's mother was saved. My husband's wife was saved. My mother's daughter was saved. So, it means a lot to so many people," Wickersheim said.
Melanie's mission is to encourage others to become organ donors.
Click here to learn more about the National Donate Life Registry. National Donor Day is on Feb. 14.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities in our YouTube playlist: