Alexis Sloan is a 28-year-old survivor of heart disease. While her family has a history of heart disease, she never thought it would affect her. She began to show symptoms in 2002, and eventually received an LVAD (a mechanical heart), which sustained her for two years. Eventually she received the call to receive a heart from, she would eventually discover, boxer Francisco "Paco" Rodriguez. After healing from surgery, Alexis now lives a happy, healthy, and full life thanks to Paco, who she calls her angel and hero. "Now I have the heart of a champion," said Alexis proudly.

Alexis's Story

Alexis Sloan is a 28-year-old survivor of heart disease. At age 22, she was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a condition characterized by enlargement of the heart. Her mother had explained the history of heart disease that ran in her family, but she never thought it would affect her. "I was young, and young people weren't supposed to get sick like that," said Alexis.

She began to show symptoms in 2002, when she felt an uncomfortable thumping of her heart in her chest, and her friends would were concerned because they could see her neck throbbing. Her heart would beat so frantically that you could see her chest moving up and down regardless of whether she was sitting or standing.

One day she was rushed to the hospital and given double diagnoses of heart failure and pulmonary embolisms (blood clots) in each lung. She was slowly dying, and with a heart rate at rest of over 200 beats per minute, "a walking time bomb" who, in the words of her physicians, lucky to be alive.

She subsequently spent many years in and out of Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, thanks to an AED, which jumpstarted her heart at least 20 times, she was able to stay alive. In March of 2007, she had her first open heart surgery and received an LVAD (a mechanical heart), which sustained her for the next two years. Alexis was happy to have the option to be saved by such technological advances, but she always looked forward to the day that she wouldn't have to depend on it anymore.

Then on the morning of November 22, 2009, she received the phone call for which she had been waiting. The caller said that there was match for her, and that she should get to the hospital as soon as possible. Alexis was happy and sad at the same time, for she knew that the call came because a person had just recently lost their life.

After healing from surgery, she felt like a brand new person. "I felt alive again, like I could do anything," said Alexis. "I knew that I was spared for a reason, and I knew that my angel was with me."

Alexis now lives a happy, healthy, and full life thanks to Francisco "Paco" Rodriguez, who she calls her angel and hero. "Now I have the heart of a champion," said Alexis proudly.