On Christmas Eve 2011, high school senior Porter Lyons couldn’t breathe or slow his racing heart — which was twice as large as it should be. Over the course of a week, his life would change because of a diagnosis of cardiomyopathy, the same diagnosis his father faced 25 years earlier. He and his family would go through the ups, downs and difficult decisions that come with a heart transplant.
Watch and read the Porter Lyons story in our seven-part series.
Episode 1: Flight for Life
On Christmas Eve 2011, high school senior Porter Lyons couldn’t breathe or slow his racing heart — which was twice as large as it should have been because of cardiomyopathy. His heartwarming transplant story starts here.
Episode 2: The Wait
The story of Ohio teen Porter Lyons’ cardiomyopathy and heart transplant continues. In this episode, doctors searched for a new heart while a family learned that waiting is the hardest part.
Episode 3: Finding a Heart
While Ohio teen Porter Lyons waited with his family, doctors searched for a new heart to replace his. His girlfriend would deliver the news — just as his mother had for his father 25 years earlier.
Episode 4: Starting a Heart
Within a week of Porter Lyons arriving at Cleveland Clinic, a search team found him a new heart. A few hours later, Porter’s second chance began with his first new heartbeat.
Episode 5: The Importance of Organ Donation
Awe. Thankfulness. Those feelings came to Karen Lyons when surgeon Nicholas Smedira, MD, walked into the waiting room early on New Year’s Eve to announce that her son Porter’s new heart was beating.
Episode 6: The Recovery
Somebody else’s heart was beating inside Porter Lyons’ chest. Six days after his surgery, Porter was having a little trouble wrapping his mind around that concept. It would take some time to sink in. So would the next steps.
Episode 7: Going Home
As the Lyons family prepared to go home, they faced the reality that their youngest son, Harper, would need to be watched closely for cardiomyopathy. Fortunately, they had an entire community behind them.
