Thoughts from the Transition Zone

A young life is lost in a motor vehicle accident and a teenager is on life support awaiting a heart transplant. In this essay, Dr. J. Terrance Davis describes his experience recovering a heart from a donor for a transplant recipient. I got the call earlier today. A teenager has been on life support at our hospital while awaiting a heart transplant. She was running out of time when we got the offer of a heart, and it was my job to recover the organ. Before I knew it, I was arriving at a suburban hospital 600 miles away, accompanied by my resident and a procurement technician. When we drove in, it seemed like any other emergency department at night. But as we walked through the emergency room (ER), all grew quiet. There were eyes upon us, and as people stepped . . .