BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Kim Lowe and her family anxiously await a new heart after joining the transplant list in January.
Kim was born with a hole in her heart and a multitude of other issues. Despite her heart issues, she says that she could play most sports with her peers and had a pretty normal childhood.
Kim met her husband, Zak Lowe, through an online dating platform and he explained that she'd been open to him about her health.
"I tricked her into marrying me," Zak said. "She's way out of my league. And she's, you know, probably the most resilient person I know."
Kim said the two have been sticking together through the whole process.
"It's just been a very long process— very long, very tiring, physically, emotionally, mentally," she said. "It definitely is hard on me and my family. And that's, you know, I feel bad about it. I can't do anything about it. But we just stick together, and we just gotta get through it."
Kim had gone through six open heart surgeries and became the first person at the Mayo Clinic to be put on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) life support twice and survive. Kim needed a valve replaced in 2011 when she experienced a rare complication.
"There was a risk, a very low risk, you know, less than 1%, at the time that when they implanted the valve that it could block off some of her coronary arteries," Zak said.
Zak said she had something similar to a heart attack while on the table. Kim says since then, she's been in heart failure and in need of a heart.
"I've had over 40 blood transfusions back in 2011. And with high antibody levels, it just makes it harder to find a match so that between the type O blood makes it difficult," Kim said.
Kim was placed on the transplant list on January 24, 2024. 5NEWS met the Lowe's during the AT&T outage at a time they say was stressful. They said they had woken up with no service and could've received the call for a heart at any moment.
"I'm thinking ... the one time they're going to call, I'm not going to be able to get it," Kim said.
While they wait for the call, Kim has to travel to the Mayo Clinic every two weeks and is grateful that her husband and parents can join.
"I will tell you being alone in the hospital is a terrible feeling. It's scary because you just don't have your loved ones there. You feel lonely," Kim said.
Amidst all of this, the Lowe's try to keep their 14-year-old daughter at the top of their minds.
"I know she's scared. And we have a really good relationship, we're very close. And that just makes it harder," Kim said.
"I hope the lesson that she comes away with is that she's resilient," Zak said.
The wait for a heart is long, but Kim is ready to defy the odds again. All she wants is more energy to grow old with her husband and watch their daughter grow up.
"As I sit in my car right now I'm looking through the windshield, and I can picture just this bright future with being healthier, you know, experiencing, being healthy, fully healthy, and looking in the rearview mirror and seeing everything that I went through to get to that point. And I need to remind myself daily that it will all be worth it," Kim said.
Transplant doctors say they're ready to admit Kim any day now. The family asks for prayers and for people to consider registering as an organ donor.
"Choose that in your worst possible moment. Your final act might be being the biggest hero and blessing to countless people's lives," Zak said.
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