salt lake city — Ashley Stewart is a proud mother — Someone who shares the heart of another mother.
In 2017, she noticed something wasn’t right while having lunch with a friend.
“My stomach was so heavy I couldn’t eat or walk back to my car,” she said. “Later that night, I looked down and noticed her ankle was swollen.”
After a quick Google search, she decided to go to the hospital, where she underwent tests.
“The nurse sat me down and said I was having a mild heart attack and should be admitted,” she said.
Stewart was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, which can lead to heart failure.
Ashley Stewart was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, which can lead to heart failure. She ended up getting her new heart, and she met with the family of the woman who donated her heart on Saturday. (Ashley Stewart family)
Since she was a healthy 26-year-old, doctors thought the medication would help.
But two years ago, at age 31, she suffered a stroke.
“I was really sick,” she said. “My heart was very weak.”
be on the transplant list
She was immediately placed on the transplant list.
“They listed me on Tuesday and on Wednesday they said they were considering putting me on life support,” she said. “I just kept having this feeling that if I could wait until Friday, if I could make it by Friday, something would happen and everything would be fine. And then on Friday the surgeon came into my room and said, He gave me a new heart.”
The next day, Stewart’s surgery was successful.
It was more than a year later that she learned her new heart belonged to a 43-year-old man. Raquel ColucciShe tragically passed away from a brain hemorrhage while visiting Las Vegas with her husband.
“It turned her into a real person with a name and a family, which was very difficult for me,” Stewart said.
Stewart had hoped to one day meet Raquel’s husband, Gino, and daughter, Melody, and thank them for their selfless gift.
It happened sometime on Saturday.
Stewart and his family met Gino and Melody Colucci for the first time. The heartfelt reunion took place at the Celebration of Life Memorial in Salt Lake City.
“We were so excited to meet them,” Gino Colucci said. “It was an emotional outpouring to get to this point.”
As Gino and Melody take turns listening to Raquel’s heart (who now lives in Ashley), emotions run high and Ashley names Gino and Melody after her husband and heroic donor. He introduced her to her 4-month-old daughter, Jane Raquel, who was named after her.
“She cared so much about other people. She always put others before herself,” said Melody Colucci, 21. “Did her mother ever love her child more than her mother loved me?”
“I know that what she wanted most in life was to be a good mother, so that’s very important to me,” Stewart said. “I’m grateful to my girlfriend for making that possible.”
If you would like to learn more about organ donation or register to become an organ donor, please visit: DonorConnect.life.
