Four years after their father’s death, three sisters from Connecticut in the US were able to hear his heartbeat because of donor organs. On the Today Show’s Instagram page, a touching video of the siblings meeting the recipient of their father’s heart was published.
From the moment as Kisandra Santiago decided to give her father’s heart, she began trying to find the recipient so that she and her siblings may once again hear their father’s heartbeat. When it came to finding a donor for her father’s preserved heart, she was desperate. It took place after four years. The road to success was by not quite simple.
Santiago, a 22-year-old from Meriden, Connecticut, said, “My dad would be so happy to see this.” “To be aware that someone else is well, alive, and living with their family as because of him.
Esteban Santiago, her 39-year-old father, experienced a medical emergency in June 2019, and he was taken to a hospital where he immediately got into a coma. His oldest daughter and next of kin, Kisandra Santiago, chosen to remove her father’s life support with the help of her family. The family gave Esteban Santiago’s organs, including his heart, in accordance with his own wishes.
The younger sister of Kisandra Santiago said, “It was one of the hardest days of our lives.”
Santiago became known to Peter Turzer as his hero on that day, too, though.
Turzer, the recipient of Santiago’s heart, said “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him.”
To whom the heart was donated?
Peter Turzer’s life was eventually spared by making this decision. If it were never for him, Turzer told NBC Connecticut, “I wouldn’t be alive.” Turzer’s medical issues started in 2016, after a vehicle accident that resulted in, he had repeated cardiac arrests while undergoing treatment for the injuries he sustained. Turzer miraculously recovered after undergoing open heart surgery, going into a coma for a week, and having his life support almost gone.
As a result of Turzer’s later on health problems, he finally required a amputation and approved for a heart transplant. Esteban Santiago’s donated heart was handed over to Turzer in July 2019. The transplant operation went perfectly.
“Every day I wake up and my hero is up above,” said Turzer. God has blessed us with such an amazing blessing, and I by no means take it for anymore.
How Peter and the siblings met?
Kisandra Santiago and Turzer became known through donor services around a year and a half ago. They were in touch via text messages, phone calls, and even video calls. But they were never face to face. Turzer and his wife just moved to South Carolina; he is from Trumbull.
Peter took a very important trip back to the state of Connecticut in July, the week of the fourth anniversary of Santiago’s death and Turzer’s transplant operations. The three children of Santiago heard their father’s heartbeat for the first time after four years.
It seems like he exists when I hear his heart. It felt natural to just hug Peter. Kianna Santiago said, “It felt like I was hugging my dad. “I just felt at home there.”
Turzer gave each of the sisters a hug and told them that their father is still with them as soon as they met him.
“Your dad is still living here”. He stays a part of us, Turzer told them. You may rely on it. I have no plans to go anywhere.
