Perth teen facing 2nd heart transplant

Adrianna Foster is a bright, friendly teenager who loves hanging out with friends, posting on social media and volunteering at a seniors home.

The 19-year-old from Perth, Ont., also has a severely damaged heart, and is in desperate need of a new one. Again.

Foster has spent most of the past seven weeks in the intensive care unit at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, where she's waiting to be put on a list for another transplant.

"It's not really a normal thing to be 19 and be told you have heart failure, that you're going to need another heart," she said from her hospital room.

Foster was born a very sick baby, diagnosed with pulmonary atresia, a defect of the valve that controls blood flow from the lower right chamber of the heart to the lungs. She was just two days old when she underwent her first heart surgery. Her second came nine days later.

Organ donation is extremely important, and I don't think enough people know about it.- Adrianna Foster

At two-and-a-half Foster received a new heart, and she grew into a cheerful teenager. Her condition required continuous medication and sporadic trips to the hospital. Her surgeries turned her into a "human pin cushion," she smiles, but she was always grateful for the organ donation that gave her a second chance at life.

Now she needs a third.

"Organ donation is extremely important, and I don't think enough people know about it," Foster said with the wisdom of someone older.

"Everyone should be really grateful for everything in their life. I took for granted when I was well, being able to go to work, go to school, and have a life with my friends... but you don't know how important those things are to you until it's taken away from you."

Her mom Arlene Foster sleeps on a thin mattress on the hospital room floor. She's been by her daughter's side through every moment of her latest ordeal.

"It's hard seeing your child lie with tubes going in her mouth and the [pump] in her leg. She couldn't move for a week. All the pumps, 14 pumps. It's your worst nightmare."

All the pumps, 14 pumps. It's your worst nightmare.- Arlene Foster, Adrianna's mother

Like her daughter, Foster was grateful for the gift of the heart that allowed Adrianna to grow up, and is confident the teenager will be strong enough for a transplant, both mentally and physically, when the time comes.

"She's had the odds stacked against her right from the get-go."

Adrianna's doctors are coming up with a plan for her next surgery before placing her on the transplant list for another heart. The number of operations she's had over the course of her short life complicates matters.

Adrianna hopes her condition will improve enough to let her to go home for a while while she awaits a new heart. She misses her friends, and the normal teenage life she's had to put on hold.

"Even when I was off the breathing machine, my hands were so weak.... It was a while before I could even text anybody."

Helene Campbell and Adrianna Foster

10 years ago

Duration 2:25

Organ transplant recipients share unique bond and immense gratitude.