On her way to graduate school, Kate Taylor stopped for a quarterly heart check-up and ended up enduring open heart surgery. Barely 22, all her valves were leaking and her heart had started to enlarge. Thanks to a transplanted aortic valve, Kate is alive and well. Kate wed the love of her life 29 days after surgery. She has gone on to study for her master's degree, travel, work and enjoy life. She was able to carry a pregnancy and give birth to a beautiful, healthy daughter. "For this, and so much more, I am forever grateful to the family who chose to help another during their most terrible tragedy," shared Kate.

Kate's Story

Kate Taylor always supposed she would be married, with 2.3 kids and a white picket fence before she needed to think about surgery. Instead, on her way to graduate school, Kate stopped for a quarterly heart check-up and ended up with open heart surgery. Barely 22, her heart tests revealed that it was time for surgery as all her valves were leaking and her heart had started to enlarge.

Kate needed surgery immediately to fix the problem and her cardiologist, Dr. Andrew Kumpuris, recommended an allograft, or human tissue valve, because of Kate's athletic lifestyle and desire to have children. It was very scary for her at the time, because surgeons had only been doing that procedure a couple of years. "But it turned out to be the best decision possible for me," said Kate.

Kate had been lucky. Doctors had been keeping a close eye on her since the age of four, when she was diagnosed with aortic valve insufficiency, or a leaky heart valve. Kate recounts her experience, "Blessed with parents who taught me to take life as it comes and enjoy each day, I was encouraged to live a normal life. So that is what I did. I worked hard and was awarded an athletic scholarship at University of Arkansas Little Rock, where I was a springboard diver and high jumper."

Because of the transplanted heart valve, Kate is alive and well. Since her surgery, she has gone on to study for her master's degree, to coach kids in dance, diving and track, to travel, to work, to enjoy life. Kate was able to wed the love of her life in her parent's yard just 29 days after surgery. The biggest blessing of this valve is that she was able to carry a pregnancy and give birth to a beautiful, healthy daughter, Ella. "For this, and so much more, I am forever grateful to the family who chose to help another during their most terrible tragedy," shared Kate.

This past August marked the 14th anniversary of Kate's surgery, a surgery she knows she will need again one day. "For now," she said, "I am taking every day as the blessing it is, and forever grateful to the researchers, the physicians and the family who turned their tragedy into such a beautiful blessing for me and my family – thank you from the bottom of my heart."