She Received Two Heart Transplants…

The Life Story of Tonya Love

They came by the hundreds to say good-bye to a girl who, in a short time, had made a life changing impact on their lives. “Tonya brings to us a message that everyone wants to hear; a message of enjoying each day to its fullest as a gift,” said one newspaper article. “She was mature beyond her years and yet had not lost the girlish ability to love, trust, and be awed by life’s wonders” was a hospital worker’s comment. “Courage seems an understatement – faith-filled doesn’t cover all that she carried in her spirit. Gracious in giving…, all the adjectives fail in the brilliant light of a young woman whose surname spoke volumes about her,” wrote a Philadelphia television personality. The media was sent to record this event; among them some of Tonya’s new found friends who came to say good-bye to this teenager who had touched their lives. What caused this eighteen year old “preacher’s kid” to make such a profound impact?

Tonya was born with congenital heart disease. Her condition was very serious, and the doctors did not believe she would live beyond a few weeks. Her four major problems were: a small nub for a left ventricle, third degree heart block, transposition, and an enlarged pulmonary artery. The doctors feared that in a very short time her lungs would be hypertensive. Her system, they said, was incompatible with life.

In spite of what the doctors said was a very serious and life threatening condition, Tonya’s spirit prevailed, and she led a very active life. Beginning in the sixth grade and on through high school, she played volleyball, basketball, and was captain of her cheerleading squad. Music was also a major part of her life. She sang with a touring vocal ensemble and loved playing her violin.

While competing in sports, her heart would often begin to fail. She would turn blue and have a difficult time breathing. Her quote to Pat Ciarrocchi, a Philadelphia television personality, was, “When I was cheering, I would get tired and begin to turn gray or blue. That meant I was not getting enough oxygen. I would just sit down and take a few deep breaths and then get up and do it all over again. It was no big deal.

Her laughter kept spirits high and brightened each person’s day. She faced each hardship without complaining. Her courage taught others to be strong and not to quit. “Each day is a gift,” Tonya believed, while her heart beat uncertainly. Finding joy in the moment seemed inconceivable to many, but for Tonya it was a way of life. Her spirit refused to give in to a handicapped heart and lungs.

God sustained her so that she was able to live a relatively normal life until she was sixteen. It was at this time that she showed major symptoms of congestive heart failure. The Lord provided a cardiac team at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. After numerous tests, it was decided to place Tonya on the heart transplant list. This was in and of itself a miracle; because, it was thought that she would be inoperable due to the complications of her congenital condition. After a year, the doctors felt it would be in Tonya’s best interest to put her in the Cardiac Care Unit so that they could administer medication that would assist the heart.  This would place also place her on another list which had priority over the first one. CCU would become home for Tonya for the next two and a half months. During this time she made many new and good friends amongst the staff and news people who had taken an interest in her case. On May 26, 1995, a heart became available, and Tonya was able to receive a second chance for life. With unbelievable courage, she walked into surgery with a smile, telling her mom that she would see her in a few hours. The surgical team worked hard to get the new heart to fit because Tonya’s anatomy was not normal. Her body temperature was reduced to forty degrees during surgery, and now that the new heart had been stitched in place, the moment of truth had arrived. Tension mounted as her body temperature was brought back to normal. The new heart was supposed to begin beating on its own. It did!

The next two weeks were difficult for her, and there were some tense moments. June 13, after a press conference in the lobby of the hospital, Tonya came home!There she was greeted by a number of her church friends, television stations, newspaper reporters, and her family. Now she would begin her first year of taking medications to keep her body from rejecting the new heart, going back to school, and adjusting to a new life. The new found energy was a benefit; but all the medications, blood tests, cauterizations, and other tests were the downside. She understood that it would take one year for her life to regain some semblance of normality. Eight months after her transplant and eight days after her eighteenth birthday, a rare form of rejection attacked her heart. In spite of heroic efforts on the part of the medical team, she went to Heaven on February 9, 1996.

Tonya actually received two kinds of heart transplants. Her second transplant was intended to extend her physical life, while her first one guaranteed eternal life. Tonya knew that she was ready to go to Heaven whenever her life might end. As a young girl, Tonya realized that something was missing from her life. As she read her Bible, she became aware that it was not something, but Someone, and that Someone was Jesus Christ. She had memorized Bible verses such as Romans 3:23. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” She understood that, “the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23), but that, “God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). The moment she admitted to God that she was a sinner and needed Jesus Christ to be her Savior, God gave her a new spiritual heart and made a permanent reservation for her in Heaven. Her faith in Jesus Christ gave her a desire to know more about and have a close relationship with Him. It was this relationship with the Lord that gave her the strength to face unbelievable odds each day both before and after her physical heart transplant. It was the power of her relationship with the Lord that touched the lives of so many people.

It was Tonya’s deep desire that everyone with whom she came in contact would know Jesus Christ as their own personal Savior as she had. She wanted them to have the same certainty of Heaven and the ability to enjoy life here while it was available. Friend, if you do not have this same assurance that Tonya had, why not acknowledge to God that you are a sinner, “For there is none righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10), and ask Jesus Christ to be your Savior right now! “For whosover shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). Simply admit to God right now that you are a sinner, believe that Jesus died and rose again for you, and call upon Him to save you from your sin. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). If you have chosen to accept God’s gift of salvation, your destiny has changed from Hell to Heaven. Please contact us for some important and helpful follow-up material.

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