DES MOINES, Iowa — The Health Resources and Services Administration says it's seen an 8.7% increase from both living and deceased organ donors in the year 2023.
This year, 17-year-old Savoy Morton needed a triple transplant surgery: a new heart, kidney and liver. However, this wasn't the first medical emergency he experienced. Apart from his medical history his mother Heather Blumer described him as the happiest kid you could ever meet, wrangling everyone's heart with just a smile.
"He had a smile. there was nothing. no pain or hospital stays really took that away," Heather Blumer said.
You wouldn't know it by the love he shared for those around him, but Savoy was born with half a heart, taking him on a journey of three open heart surgeries. The first of those lasted 18 hours and revealed a rare blood disorder which prevented proper clotting.
"We did not know that he was a hemophiliac at the time. We got through it, you know, we got through all of those. but throughout his life, he had numerous heart casts and, you know, different procedures that were needed," Blumer said.
Even in and out of hospitals, Savoy was just your average teen.
"Big into wrestling, big into gaming, big into wanting to be a cowboy of all things," Heather Blumer shared.
But, Savoy needed a new heart, kidney and liver.
"We got an offer of a perfect match for a heart and kidney from the same donor,"
The offer spurred excitement for Savoy and his mom, though the evening of the operation doctors told Heather they experienced some bleeding issues, and were fighting the clock.
"The heart alone took 20 hours for them to do, and the kidney can only be on a pump for 30 hours to be viable. So, they only had 10 hours left to decide. Were they then going to do the kidney transplant as well? Originally, it was supposed to be heart, liver, kidney, but they took liver off the table," Heather told Local 5 News.
Savoy's valiant fight came to a close on May 7.
"I have fought for 17 years to keep him here and done everything, you know, all different states, all different cities to keep my boy here. A week to the day, they told me, you know what, that he wasn't going to wake up," Heather Blumer said.
Even though Savoy's transplant wasn't successful, Heather hopes his story doesn't deter people from organ donations.
"There's so many kids that do get transplants that are thriving and doing well at a second chance at life, and I think it's a great thing," Blumer said.