The TikTok video, in which Jessica Manning, 29, from New Zealand, shared that she kept her old heart in a plastic bag after a heart transplant, was watched by millions of people in a short time. “I always knew that having my heart and educating about organ donation would be controversial,” Manning said.
GIVEN TWO YEARS TO LIVE
Manning’s story of heart disease began after he suffered multiple heart defects, including having a half-heart, which he likened to “cookie dough” from birth. She then had 200 cardiovascular procedures, including two open-heart surgeries, before she was 3. Given only two years to live at one point, Manning said, “My biggest heart surgery was with Fontan, which connected the heart to the pulmonary artery using a tube, it was almost like rebuilding my heart.”
LIFE SAVED WITH HEART DONATION
Salvation finally came when she received a heart through donation at the age of 25. Holding on to a heart can conjure up a gruesome ritual plucked from “Indiana Jones and the Temple Of Doom.” However, the kind-hearted woman has a very honorable reason to keep it – she wants to honor the donor who saved her life.
GRATEFUL TO ITS DONOR AND FAMILY
“When I buy a house, I want to bury it and plant a tree on it and dedicate it to my donor,” Manning said. “As an organ transplant recipient, it’s almost impossible to put into words how grateful we are not just to our donor but to the donor’s family. Reaching my goals and doing everything I love is celebrating that my donor is still alive.” In other words, her heart literally beats for him.
KEEP IT IN PROTECTIVE LIQUIDS
Meanwhile, Manning keeps the original organ in a bag filled with preservatives to prevent it from “breaking”. “I used to keep it in my closet, but now I keep it in a drawer on my desk, so I don’t need to store the blood pump in the fridge since it’s already stored,” she explained. “Having my heart close to my food just didn’t suit me!” He explained to avoid the “Dahmer”-like organ mummification technique.
GET BAD REVIEWS
“There’s only a small percentage of people who think this is weird or weird. People who make negative comments often come to my page randomly and don’t take the time to watch any of my other videos to understand why I kept it or what I went through to be here today,” Manning said. said. “I’m a very confident person, I love my scars and the story they tell,” she said. “I like to wear bikinis to show them off, and even though I’m not in a bikini, I still show them to people.”