Kenny Laferriere was only age 17, when he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a disease that impacts the heart muscle and makes it harder for it to pump blood effectively. In 2001, he received the heart donation and transplant that saved his life. At a recent event, covered by the Taunton Gazette, Kenny discussed what this donation meant to him.
“Because someone saved my life, my wife and I were able to bring new life in the world,” he said about his two boys, now 14 and 10. “A donation has a ripple effect.”
Interestingly, Kenny, now 42, works with New England Donor Services, as a Hospital Donation Strategist.
At the same event was Irene Frechette, a volunteer with NEDS who also spoke of her grandson, Timothy, who died in an accident and was a heart donor.
“Timothy’s heart was transplanted into the body of a military veteran who had two failed transplants prior to getting Tim’s heart.”
Read the entire story: HERE.