기적입니다

태어난 지 얼마 되지 않은 어린 아가가 심장을 이식받지 않으면 살아날 수 없는 처지에 있었습니다. 심장을 기부할 사람이 없을까 애타게 기다렸지요.  인공호흡기를 쓰고 같은 병원에 입원해 있던 아기 케일리가 호흡기를 제거하면 생명을 잃게 될 것이라 했습니다. 죽어가는 아가의 심장이 이식되어 또 다른 아가의 생명을 구하게 된다면 슬픈 일이긴 하지만 다행한 일이라 여겼습니다.

예상과는 다르게 인공호흡기를 떼어낸 케일리는 계속 생명을 유지했습니다. 회복한 케일리에게 병원으로부터 퇴원해도 좋다는 허락을 내려졌지요. 다행스럽게도 케일리는 부모의 품에 안겨 집으로 향했습니다.

문제는 릴리언이었습니다. 심장을 기증 받지 않으면 죽을 처지에 있는 릴리언을 위해 많은 사람들이 안타까워하며 기도하였습니다. 숨죽이며 심장을 기증할 아기가 나타나길 기다렸습니다. 드디어 애타게 기다렸던 기적이 일어났습니다. 심장을 기증할 아가가 나타난 것입니다.

케일리과 릴리언 두 아가 모두를 살릴 수 있는 기적은 없을까 탄식하며 기다렸더니 불가능할 것 같던 기적이 일어났습니다.

자신의 심장을 내어주어 릴리언을 살려내고 하늘나라로 가게 될 용감한 아기는 작은 천사이겠지요? 기쁘지만 한편으로는 가슴을 쓸어내려야 하는 기적입니다.

<A story with heart>

Sometimes, miracles do happen.

Baby Lillian O'Connor -- the child at the centre of a heart-wrenching transplant drama -- has reportedly finally received the infant heart she has desperately needed since she was born 15 weeks ago.

A gift of life that comes as a belated Father's Day present for her dad Kevin and a bittersweet wish come true for her mom, Melanie Bernard.

"Lily has lost another little one who will forever be near and dear to her heart. R.I.P.," her mom wrote on their Facebook page.

Because another brave child had to die for their precious daughter to live.

It is hopefully the end of a rollercoaster for an angelic baby who first captured our hearts in March when her Prince Edward Island parents went public in our paper with their plea for a heart. Then a few weeks later, she seemed to come so close to a transplant in an emotional saga of two little girls who captured the attention of many across the country and beyond.

Kaylee Vitelli's parents had been told their baby was dying of Joubert Syndrome and her parents had hoped that her final legacy would be the gift of life. Having read about Lillian in the Toronto Sun, the couple took the unprecedented step of seeking out her parents at Sick Kids to offer their child's heart once she was taken off her respirator.

After initial reluctance from the hospital, the transplant was given the go-ahead and both babies were prepared for surgery. But in the end, Kaylee rallied after she was taken off her breathing machine and the transplant was called off.

It was wonderful news for Kaylee, who is now home in Bradford. But for Lily's parents, it meant a return to the long, agonizing wait for a donor, with a pager never leaving their side.

The couple, both 31, have been at the Hospital for Sick Children since soon after Lily was born March 9 across the street at Mount Sinai. Ultrasounds had shown that Bernard was carrying a daughter with truncus arteriosus, a rare congenital heart defect that leads to heart failure at birth, and she needed to spend the end of her pregnancy in Toronto so she could be close to Sick Kids.

Doctors had warned them that their baby may be stillborn, but Lily has been a fighter from the start.

In a Mother's Day story, her parents spoke here of their daughter's remarkable determination to hold on until a heart was available.

"She's got such strength," said Bernard, on maternity leave from her job as program manager with Veterans Affairs. "She knows exactly what she wants and she'll let you know."

But these last few weeks have been difficult for Lily -- she's run high fevers, had a staph infection, a collapsed lung and a perforated bowel. Her heart rate was so high while she was awake that they had to keep her sleeping for long spells to conserve her failing organ.

Time was running out. "We just have to get a heart sooner than later," her dad wrote on their Facebook site.

"She needs it as quickly as possible," her mom told the Sun last month. "There's only so many Band-Aid solutions to buy time."

So they've hoped and prayed. "When you're with her, the time flies by. But every time you're away, you're hoping the pager goes off. Even when you're sleeping, we're just waiting to hear it," she said.

What has made it even more difficult was knowing that for their daughter to be saved, someone else's child could not be. "It's so unfortunate for another family. How do you wish or pray for someone else's child to die? All we can do is make people aware that a heart is needed and it could save another child's life," Bernard said when they made their appeal in March.

AGONIZING WAIT

Through their agonizing wait, they have not been alone. Their friends back home in PEI have thrown fundraisers so they can afford to continue to be by her side and keep their home near Charlottetown. "There's a whole island waiting for this little girl," her mom said last month.

"We just hang on, hoping for the best," explained her hopeful dad, a freight associate for Home Depot. "It's hard to get a newborn organ. There have been so many transplants since we've been here. Unfortunately for us, infant hearts are rare."

But they never gave up hope. They dreamed of taking their little girl home to the beach, of watching her play in the sand and riding a tricycle. They fantasized about feeding her Pablum and hearing her laugh and brushing her hair. And they've even yearned for the day when they can squabble over tattoos and belly rings and the keys to the truck.

Wishes that seemed too much to hope for, now finally within their reach.

(Source: Toronto sun, 25th June 2009, By MICHELE MANDEL)