SAN ANTONIO \u2013 Two San Antonio sisters bonded by a genetic heart condition want others to know the symptoms, even if they don\u2019t have the condition themselves.<\/p>\n
Harper and Heidi Gaffney share more than sisterhood. Both live with familial congestive heart failure, a genetic condition that made it hard for their hearts to pump blood. Doctors knew they would eventually need heart transplants.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just a normal day, and it ended up me going to the hospital,\u201d Harper said.<\/p>\n
Harper and her family had gone to a nail salon when one of the nail techs noticed something wasn\u2019t right.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of our nail technicians saw that my feet and legs were really swollen, and he was like, \u2018You might want to go get that checked out,\u2019\u201d Harper said. \u201cAnd then we ended up knowing I was in organ failure.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two sisters relied on a battery-operated mechanical pump made by Abbott called the HeartMate 3 LVAD, or left ventricular assist device. The pump helped their hearts circulate blood and kept them healthy enough to wait for donor hearts.<\/p>\n
\u201cHeartMate 3 LVAD allowed Heidi to go to school and have her senior year,\u201d their mother, Ashley Gaffney, said. \u201cHarper was in middle school and went to school with the device.\u201d<\/p>\n
A year later, both sisters received heart transplants <\/p>\n
While attending North Side Independent School District schools, both girls received heart transplants in 2025 at Dell Children\u2019s Medical Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw a big difference in her after she got her transplant,\u201d Heidi said of Harper. \u201cShe was very willing to go out and go on walks. You were more excited to do active things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harper said her sister\u2019s support helped her through some of the hardest days.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would call you, and you would tell me, \u2018You got this\u2019 and \u2018Don\u2019t give up,\u201d’ she said.<\/p>\n
Ashley Gaffney hopes their story encourages parents to pay attention to potential warning signs and to push for heart screenings when something feels off.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely get your kids\u2019 hearts checked,\u201d she said. \u201cEven recently, we\u2019ve had a couple of athletes that have passed out at practice that ended up having underlying heart conditions that nobody was aware of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Congenital heart conditions are among the most common birth defects in the United States. Federal data show about 1 in every 100 children is affected.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been so blessed, and the girls have not had any implications,\u201d Ashley Gaffney said. \u201cIt\u2019s really like our lives were rewound, and we were back before all this happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, Heidi is looking ahead to a career in health care so she can give other children the kind of support she needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be that nurse for other kids,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd not like, \u2018I\u2019m sorry you\u2019re going through this,\u2019 but like, \u2018I understand you. I\u2019ve been through this,\u2019 and kind of help them through it.\u201d<\/p>\n
With two successful heart transplants behind them, the Gaffney sisters say they\u2019re ready to move forward and will keep speaking out so others recognize the symptoms of heart trouble early, even if heart disease doesn\u2019t already run in their family.<\/p>\n
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