CHICAGO (CBS) — Two sisters are feeling grateful after receiving heart transplants at the same age, seven years apart.
Younger sister Meredith Everhart and older sister Abby Cannon were bonded by a genetic disease and a second chance at life.
“Ironically, when she needed a heart transplant, she was the same age that I needed a heart transplant,” Cannon said. “We are 7 years apart in age, 7 years apart within 30 days of the transplant, and our birthdays are within 30 days.”
The sisters share a special bond of having a second chance at life, which they both received when they were 38 years old.
Both sisters have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, also known as HCM.
The genetic disorder is a type of heart disease that causes the heart muscle to thicken.
In 2012, Cannon experienced chest pain. She was misdiagnosed in Nashville, Tennessee, and received a second opinion at Northwestern Medical School in 2016.
“Within six months, I was in the hospital on an aortic balloon pump waiting for my heart,” Cannon said. “I finally got the heart after 32 days. So my date is February 27, 2017.”
Just a few months after Cannon’s transplant, Everhart was also diagnosed with HCM. She tried medication and participated in clinical trials, but her condition continued to worsen. ”
“For me, she was right. I was in denial for a long time,” Everhart said. “And I didn’t want to get sick. I was in my 20s, early 30s. , this wasn’t happening, I saw how much she was suffering.”
In May 2022, Everhart contracted COVID-19 and went into heart failure.
She was added to the transplant list a year later.
“I got the call this year on January 29, 2024, and it’s been a long journey,” Everhart said. “It was still great. Northwestern was great.”
Cannon said she cannot stress enough how important it is to become an organ donor.
“We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that most selfless gift of others,” she said.
