大约一年内, 她获得了大学学位, a new heart and a husband

当其他孩子在幼儿园休息时出去玩的时候, 凯瑟琳·赫尔曼只能待在屋里.

She was born with a heart problem that required her to take medications every day. Because blood thinners were among her pills, she couldn't risk getting hurt and bleeding.

Katherine was an infant when her mother noticed that she was struggling to breathe. 她被诊断出患有肖尼综合症, a rare congenital heart condition marked by at least two defects that affect blood flow in the left side of the heart.

Within a few weeks, doctors performed open-heart surgery to replace Katherine's valves.

By her first birthday, the girl from Canton, Ohio, had undergone seven surgeries.

随着年龄的增长, Katherine found activities that were deemed safe and that she enjoyed, 比如跳舞, 戏剧及唱诗班. She also got involved in elementary school fundraisers for the 美国心脏协会. 她喜欢分享她的故事，因为它可以帮助人们.

At 10, she began seeing a therapist to talk about life as a heart patient. There, Katherine learned to describe her feelings and to find joy wherever she could.

很快，她找到了很多这样的机会.

At 13, she combined her love of performance and conversation by starting her own YouTube channel. 有时她会谈论她的医疗程序, 但通常她会做彩虹织布机和手镯, 思考日常生活，回复读者来信. 她有自己的邮箱.她甚至还从中赚了一点钱.

14岁时，她的替换心脏瓣膜磨损了. 她还需要另一个替代者.

她的父母一直很害怕. 但凯瑟琳把它变成了一种力量的展示.

She not only danced defiantly into the operating room, she did so to the song "Pumpin Blood.“医生和护士都参与其中, 太, 随着歌词挥舞着拳头, “是你的心脏, 它还活着. 它在输送血液. 整个广阔的世界都在呼啸."

手术本身是成功的. 两个健康的瓣膜改变了凯瑟琳. 她感到比以往任何时候都精力充沛. 她长得很快，长高了4英寸.

But her energy began heading in the wrong direction her senior year of high school. 在她大学一年级的十二月, 她接受了一个相对常规的手术来更换心脏起搏器.

When the doctor visited with her after, he told her she had heart failure. 她的下一个选择是心脏移植.

她和她妈妈, 卡拉哈利, listened for more than an hour as the doctor ran through a litany of dietary and lifestyle instructions for living with heart failure.

当他离开房间时，凯瑟琳抽泣起来.

After that diagnosis, many people suggested she leave school to focus on her health.

"I'm not sitting in my house year after year waiting for a heart," she told them.

此外，她还有一个留在学校的理由. 她开始和一个叫伊恩·赫尔曼的大一同学约会.

随着学期的流逝，凯瑟琳可以感觉到她的身体在衰退. 到了大四，她走路的沙巴足球体育平台已经不能超过五分钟了.

那时，她也在心脏移植的等待名单上.

她于2022年5月大学毕业. 一个月后, her health deteriorated to the point where went into the hospital knowing that she'd either come out with a new heart or not at all.

About a month later, she was visiting with her mom when a surgeon stopped by.

“我们对你有一颗心，而且很坚强，”他说.

他们看着他，惊呆了. 几分钟后，他们又单独在一起，拥抱着哭泣.

第二天，2022年7月25日，凯瑟琳收到了她的新心脏. 那天深夜, 她有足够的力气和母亲以及伊恩视频聊天, 现在她的未婚夫是谁.

The next morning, Haley arrived at the hospital to find her daughter already sitting up.

去年春天, Katherine and 伊恩 were married at her church by the pastor who had prayed for her since she was a newborn. 他发誓这一天一定会到来.

“那个房间里的每个人都在为我们祈祷，”哈利说. “当凯瑟琳用尽全力走下红毯的时候, 那一刻我明白了, 她做到了!“她的成就超出了我的想象."

下个月, 凯瑟琳能够见到并感谢她的捐赠者的家人, 两个孩子的年轻母亲.

"I'm using my heart, the heart she gave me, to the best of my ability," she said.

现年23岁的凯瑟琳是一名紧急调度员. She's also pursuing a master's degree in hopes of becoming a pediatric mental health counselor.

“人们问我是否感觉恢复正常了，”她说. "No, it's a whole new world, because I never had a normal heart to begin with. 我过着以前从未有过的生活."

发自内心的故事 chronicles the inspiring journeys of heart disease and stroke survivors, caregivers and advocates.