NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Life is full of chances. On May 21 at 3:17 a.m., a single heartbeat meant another chance for one Tennessee woman.
It was a second chance for the heart and a third chance for Jordon Hensley. At only 29 years old, this was her second heart transplant.
“I was 28 years old. I mean, I definitely wasn't done living, and the only option was re-transplant for me," she said.
She received her first transplant around 17 years ago when she was 12 years old. She later needed a second transplant, after developing cardiac allograft vasculopathy in February — a common but often fatal condition among transplant recipients.
At first, a committee at Vanderbilt University Medical Center voted against putting her on the transplant list for a second heart. But in April, the hospital reconsidered and she was soon bumped up to the top level on the transplant list.
“I did take care of my heart for 17 years, and I did a good job taking care of it,” said Hensley. “To be told that at a young age, 'No.' I mean, I still have a lot of life to live.”
Hensley and her mom, Jessica Williams, looked for other hospitals that would put her on the transplant list with no luck.
“There were times where I was getting really sad and worried,” said Williams.
In April, after Hensley started getting seizures and her cardiac allograft vasculopathy worsened, she was placed on an ECMO machine to save her life. She was on the machine for 31 days.
“You have to lay flat on your back. You can't bend your legs at all. They had it in my left leg, in my artery. In my right leg, they had it in my ventricle,” said Hensley.
She said out of all the surgeries, cardiac arrests and hospitalizations she’s endured — the ECMO machine was the hardest.
“That had to have been the most challenging thing I think I’ve ever gone through, even with all of my surgeries, and everything else that I've been through, I would not wish that for anyone,” she said. “I got to a point where I sat there and just told my mom, ‘Don't let me die on ECMO.'"
On May 20, Hensley got the news that she had been waiting for. After four heart matches that didn’t work out, the fifth one was the charm. Hensley went into surgery around 1 a.m., the heart arrived at around 2:40 a.m. and it began beating inside of Hensley at around 3:17 a.m.
“I knew, just by faith that Jordan was going to make it,” said Williams. “Having that many cardiac arrests and coming back from it, that just doesn't happen for no reason.”
Hensley said now that she’s recovering, she’s looking forward to getting back to her normal life with her new heart and new beginnings.
“I’m getting married next year. I am excited about that," she said. “I wouldn't change my life for anything, though — because it's made me a better person growing up.”