2016 Anna King

ANNA KING

Heart Recipient

Age 16 ~ The Woodlands, Texas

Student

Honored by Donate Life America at donatelife.net

In the summer of 2012, Anna wasn’t feeling like her spirited self and went to the hospital for a chest x-ray.  Countless visits and tests later, the doctors found that Anna had been living with a rare form of heart disease.  After 832 days of waiting, a generous donor provided Anna with a new heart.  Ever since then, Anna has been committed to honoring her donor in everything that she does. While waiting for a new heart, she fell in love with golfing and has since sparked a relationship with fellow heart recipient Erik Compton.  Like Compton, Anna has become a strong advocate for organ donation and shares her story in hopes to inspire others to become registered donors.

Anna’s Story

Anna King was an energetic, active and fun-loving young girl. However, in the summer of 2012 when she was 12 years old, she wasn’t feeling like her spirited self and went in for a chest x-ray to see if she might have pneumonia. This appointment was just the beginning of countless doctor visits and devastating revelations for Anna and her family. Her doctors ultimately identified that her heart had been enlarged by an infection and that she had been living with a rare form of heart disease. Anna needed a new heart to survive, and so she began the wait for a transplant – a wait that would last 832 days.

It was during those 832 days that Anna realized her love for golf. She was especially inspired by a new idol in her life, PGA golfer Erik Compton. Anna felt a special bond with Erik because he, too, had received his first heart transplant during his teenage years. While Anna waited, she watched Erik play. She watched him share his story and promote donation and in doing so, was inspired to make promoting donation a priority in her life as well. She started a personal crusade to tell her story as often as possible and promote donation with confidence, courage and her infectious sense of humor.

Anna’s family believes it was her positive attitude and love for life that kept her going until August 22, 2014, when a generous donor gave her the gift of a new heart. Anna’s commitment to honoring her donor and to ending the wait for others has not faltered since her transplant. Since receiving her new heart, Anna has had the opportunity to share her story at multiple events and with her fan base on social media. Through her efforts to promote donation, Anna has had the chance to meet Erik Compton twice, once before her transplant and once this past spring while attending the Erik Compton Golf Classic.

Above all, Anna is grateful to the donor who gave her the gift of life. She hopes to one day be able to meet her donor’s family, and thank them for their incredible generosity.