On April 16, 2021 — Donate Life’s National Blue and Green Day — New York resident Jennifer Mayadas-Dering’s life was saved by Sarah Griffin.
“When I got the call, I started crying immediately,” Jennifer recalled. “They had turned down at least three hearts for me before. I couldn’t believe it — it was like hitting God’s lottery.”
Jennifer’s health problems began in November 2020, when she developed a persistent cough that she just couldn’t shake. “I went to the doctor, and they said it was asthma,” said Jennifer. “It got to the point where I couldn’t talk without coughing the whole time.”
As a professional racquetball player, Jennifer continued to work out and train for an upcoming tournament in Greenville, SC. After 14 visits to the doctor without answers, she finally reached her breaking point.
“It got so bad that I said to my trainer, ‘I think I need to take a break because things don’t seem right here,” recalled Jennifer. “That weekend I played my last game — but I won. After that it was a pretty fast decline.”
Jennifer, who had lost her mother to pulmonary fibrosis, found herself unable to sleep lying down — a chillingly familiar situation. “I had lost my mom 10 years before, and it got to the point where I couldn’t lie down to sleep, so I was sleeping in a chair. My husband said to me, ‘the last time we saw someone sleeping in a chair was your mom, and she died 10 days later.’ That was my signal to go to the doctor again. I told them I wasn’t leaving until I got a chest x-ray.”
Jennifer’s x-ray revealed an extremely enlarged heart, and she was diagnosed with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy — a serious condition characterized by an enlarged and weakened heart with no identifiable cause.
“I was in end-stage heart failure,” said Jennifer. “I didn’t even realize how extremely sick I was. I declined so rapidly that they eventually had to put me on life support. It was three weeks to the day later that I received the gift of life.”
Jennifer’s donor, Sarah Griffin, was a 28-year-old mother of four from North Carolina. She enjoyed coloring, writing, doodling, and had a particular fondness for teal and bright colors. Most of all, she enjoyed helping others.
“Sarah was the type of person where, if you needed something and it was the last thing she had, she was going to make sure you got it,” said Michelle Johnson, Sarah’s big sister. “She loved life, and she lived it with no regrets.”
Sarah unexpectedly passed away on Wednesday, April 14 — a profound loss felt deeply by her family and friends.
“I was raised by Sarah’s dad, and he passed away Oct. 1, 2020,” said Michelle. “We lost our mom on Dec. 5 that same year. Sarah and I were the only two siblings, and then we lost Sarah six months later. It was a lot to process.”
Although she was unaware that her sister was a donor, Michelle chose to honor Sarah’s decision at the hospital. “The donor team came in and met with me and explained the whole process and how things were going to work. They asked me if I wanted to carry on with my sister’s decisions, and of course I did. In her case, in the midst of our grief, she was able to save four other lives.”
Unbeknownst to Michelle, one of those four recipients was Jennifer — who began penning a letter of gratitude immediately after her surgery.
“I started writing the letter in the ICU the day I woke up,” said Jennifer. “All I could think was that here I am rejoicing in the fact that I was given life, and somebody else is grieving right now. When I wrote the letter, I didn’t know who I was writing it to, but whoever it was just lost somebody. I wanted them to know that because of their loved one, I was able to live. I had my transplant in April, and that summer I celebrated my 25th wedding anniversary and watched my youngest son graduate high school. They were milestones that weren’t promised to me.”
Later that summer, Michelle received a call from HonorBridge’s Family Resource Program asking if she would be accepting of a letter from Sarah’s recipient. “I was like, of course! I really wanted to drive to Durham to pick it up versus them mailing it to me — that’s how bad I was wanting the letter,” said Michelle. “I received it maybe two days later and I wrote back within the week.”
When ready, Michelle and Jennifer signed paperwork to exchange direct contact information and continued to stay in touch. A year after the heart transplant, Jennifer sent each of Sarah’s children teddy bears containing recordings of her heartbeat. On Oct. 29, HonorBridge facilitated their first meeting in a public library in Fayetteville, NC.
“They had our family there first and went over everything,” said Michelle. “When we were ready, they brought Jennifer, her husband, and their youngest son in. As soon as she came in there was an instant connection for me. It felt like I knew her, she even looked familiar. It’s a weird feeling to even try to put into words to describe. The only thing I can say is it was like she was a part of us. Instantly, Jennifer and I went towards each other — it was like no one else in the room mattered. We just hugged and cried. All of Sarah’s babies were there, so we introduced her to each one. But what got my heart the most is my sister only had one daughter, Aubrey, and she is the spitting image of my sister. Jennifer made the comment, ‘wow, you look just like your mother!’ At this point we hadn’t shared any pictures. That kind of threw me for a second.”
Jennifer was equally as surprised by the strong connection she felt with a family she had never met before.
“When I hugged Michelle, it just felt like home,” said Jennifer. “It felt like I belonged there and that we were already close. Sarah’s son Cody seemed to just be hanging onto me. I asked Michelle if Cody was super close to his mom, and she was like yeah, he was. I could just feel that, it was so amazing.”
Since their first meeting, the two families have continued to gather and create cherished memories together. “My husband and I made a few trips down to Florida, and when we were driving back, we would stop in Fayetteville, spend the night, and meet Michelle and the family for breakfast,” said Jennifer. “We kind of have a little tradition of going out for breakfast the morning that we leave. Michelle probably doesn’t realize this, but I appreciate her making the effort to meet us at an early hour on a Sunday morning to have breakfast and spend some time together. Not everybody makes that effort, and it’s the effort that we put in that has really helped our relationship grow.”
On the anniversary of her sister’s passing, Michelle and Jennifer spent the weekend together in New York City. On Aug. 16, Jennifer’s “heartiversary,” they went to see “The Lion King” on Broadway.
“It was a time for us to connect even more, learn more about each other, and talk about Sarah and the type of person she was,” said Michelle. “After that it was trips with families — Jennifer and her family would come down for birthdays and they came down for Grayson’s (Sarah’s youngest) adoption celebration. We recently went up to New York in April to be guest speakers together at the TRIO event at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and Jennifer and her family just recently came down for the family reunion.”
Three months after her transplant, Jennifer began playing racquetball again. While she’s not quite the same athlete she was before she got sick, her life has changed in ways she never expected. “I’ve changed dramatically from an emotional and spiritual standpoint,” said Jennifer. “I used to go through life not appreciating the small things, but now I do. I keep saying that Sarah and I are trying to make the world smile a little bit more. Together, she and I are out there trying to make the world a better place. So, her life still has meaning.”
For those who are on the fence about registering to be an organ donor, Michelle encourages everyone to “just do it.”
“I was never an organ donor, I never registered,” admitted Michelle. “I was always that type of person like, why would I do that? But since my experience with my sister, I’ve signed up. It’s a chance to save others, to give them the gift of life. When we all pass, our organs will be useless — so why not donate and save someone else?”
Sarah’s selfless decision to become an organ donor not only saved Jennifer’s life but also united the two families, creating a lasting bond — and for that, Jennifer is eternally grateful. “If I could speak directly to Sarah, I would tell her that having her heart has been the best experience of my life,” said Jennifer. “The words ‘thank you’ just don’t match the situation. I’m so grateful that Michelle and I have become so close — without Sarah we would have never met, but I’m so grateful we have.”
While the pain of her loss remains, Michelle finds comfort in the fact that her sister lives on — in her babies, in her memories, and in her recipients.
“Sarah inspires others, even though she’s not here,” said Michelle. “By sharing our story, she continues to change others’ ways of thinking when it comes to organ donation. We will continue to do whatever we can to make sure she lives on in our daily lives.”
More than 100,000 people are waiting for lifesaving organ transplants. Together, we can save lives. Register your decision here: https://bit.ly/3hmiWKE
