Born with a congenital heart defect, Chastity grew up knowing that her heart was different. While other children ran, played and kept up with their peers, she often struggled with the endurance and strength they seemed to have naturally.
“I didn’t have the endurance and strength of other kids,” Chastity said. “I was very shielded as a child, and I’ve taken medicine my whole life. Congenital heart patients always learn to compensate, and I was really good at that.”
For years, Chastity learned to adapt. But in her early 30s, her heart began making it increasingly difficult to keep up with the life she had built. Around 2022, her health started to decline, and the symptoms began affecting her work as a respiratory therapist.
“My ankles would swell, and I couldn’t breathe,” recalled Chastity. “I felt like I couldn’t do a lot anymore. I felt bad at work because I always got put in units where I didn’t have to move around as much.”
As her condition continued to worsen, Chastity’s cardiologists referred her to a transplant team. In August 2023, at just 34 years old, she underwent an evaluation for a heart transplant. Although Chastity had always known a transplant might eventually be part of her future, actually facing that reality was different.
“As part of the transplant evaluation, I had to meet with many different teams, including palliative care and hospice,” she said. “I also had to complete an advance directive. It was hard to process.”
On March 1, 2024, Chastity was officially placed on the heart transplant waiting list. Just over two months later, her health took a turn while at work.
“On May 8, I passed out while working at the hospital,” Chastity said. “My lips were blue, and my blood pressure was tanking.”
She was admitted to the hospital, where she spent the next 33 days waiting for a lifesaving heart. Then, on June 11, 2024, the call she had been waiting for finally came while she was on FaceTime with her husband and her dog. A heart was available.
“It was a perfect match from what I understand,” she said.
The transplant gave Chastity a chance at a life she had never known, but getting there wasn’t easy. Her recovery was long and filled with complications, but like a true congenital heart patient, she pushed through. Her care team encouraged her to walk multiple times a day, and she was determined to regain her strength.
Today, Chastity is living with a freedom she once couldn’t imagine. She is much more active, works part-time as a respiratory therapist and can take her dogs to the park, something she simply didn’t have the energy to do before her transplant. Eighteen months to the day after her transplant, she graduated from UNC Charlotte with her bachelor’s degree.
“It was a rough road, but it’s worth it,” she said. “I never really knew what having a fully functioning heart was like until now.”
From the moment she received her transplant, Chastity says she also thought about the person who made that second chance possible. She wrote a letter to her donor’s family to express her gratitude, even though she doesn’t know who her donor was or whether they were a man or woman.
“I just wanted to thank them for making the selfless decision to share,” said Chastity. “It was strange having to write to them and not really knowing if my donor was a male or female. I wish I knew who they were, but I’ve never heard back from them. But I’m so thankful to them and to their family.”
After spending her life learning how to compensate for a heart that couldn’t keep up, Chastity now knows what it feels like to live without those same limitations.
“I want to go out and do more now than I used to,” she said. “It’s even changed how I interact with my patients as a respiratory therapist. I talk about donation, and I can’t stress enough how much it makes a difference in someone’s life. Because of donation, I’m still here.”
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