Jonathan Menachem

Liz Barnett is one of seven people who received a combined heart/liver transplant at VUMC last year.

Heart/liver transplant gives congenital heart disease patient new hope

Last year, Liz Barnett became one of seven people at Vanderbilt University Medical Center to receive a combined heart/liver transplant in 2021.

Hospital staff conspires to help transplant patient plan a surprise proposal – to his wife

Love was in the air on the seventh floor of Medical Center East

Family’s gift celebrates those who make transplants possible

All Coleen Leszczynski ever wanted was to be normal. Born with a congenital heart disease (CHD), she labored to breathe, having only three-quarters the oxygen capacity of a healthy person. Still, she fought to live, serving as a cardiac nurse in her native Philadelphia area for more than 16 years. She wanted to help people like her.

By Matt Batcheldor

August 20, 2021

There is a bell on the transplant unit. It rings in celebration — and memory

Coleen Leszczynski’s family dedicated the bell, to be rung every time a transplant patient leaves the hospital

By Matt Batcheldor

Piper Davis is one of three single-ventricle patients who have received new hearts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

August 12, 2020

Congenital heart patient receives unexpected transplant

For years, doctors told Piper Davis it was impossible to have a heart transplant. She was born with just one ventricle, or pumping chamber, instead of two. A generation ago, such patients didn’t survive into adulthood.