Hannah Grinnan
"It was both a gift of love and a miracle of science."
Hannah Marie Grinnan’s story has a positive outcome, but it was not that way for the Grinnan family in 1985 when Hannah’s parents, Bill and Cathy, had their third child, Brien. He was born with a congenital heart disease called hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). They had hoped for a heart transplant, but were told this was not an option. At that time, infant organs were rarely listed for transplant. Their only consolation was that doctors told them this condition was so rare that they should not hesitate to have more children.
The Grinnans had four more children before Hannah came into the world on April 6, 1998. During the 15th week of pregnancy, a test confirmed that Hannah was also stricken with HLHS.
“It was devastating,” said Cathy of the diagnosis. “The first thing that entered our minds was ‘will we lose her too?’” Added Bill, “It had been 14 years since Brien’s death and we weren’t sure how far infant organ donation and heart transplantation had come.”
Because of Hannah’s early diagnosis, it gave the Grinnans the option to make the only decision which was right for them: to have their daughter placed on the national heart transplant waiting list.
Eleven days after she was born and several hundred miles away, a family was facing the reality that their newborn son had been born brain dead. The child’s name was Trevor, and it was his mother Kristine who made a promise at that time: no one would ever forget his name. The heart that renowned surgeon Dr. Leonard Bailey placed in her chest restored her health and kept alive the essence of the newborn boy who had died only hours before.
It was both a gift of love and a miracle of science. But Hannah’s family and Dr. Bailey are well aware of whom to thank for this beautiful gift. Without the family’s decision to donate, it would not matter what medical science could make possible.
To this day, the Grinnans are comforted by the resolve of Kristine and her family in their decision to have their child be remembered as one who gave life to others. (Trevor’s liver went to a little girl in Utah.) The two families met in July 1998 after Hannah’s story aired on CBS, prompting 100,000 visits to the network’s website for information about becoming an organ donor.
The Grinnan family is forever grateful for this wonderful gift and continue to educate others on the miracle of organ donation. Today, Hannah loves to swim and ride bikes, and aspires to be a food critic.
