TAMPA, Fla. — April is Donate Life Month, and there are currently 115,000 people living in America waiting for an organ transplant. Robert Humphrey was one of them until, out of nowhere, he received a message that would change his life and save his life.
Entering 2025, Humphrey, of Riverview, wasn’t sure he was going to share another wedding anniversary with his high school sweetheart Marie. He was only given a few weeks to live unless he received a heart transplant.
WATCH: Riverview man receives heart transplant from family he already knew
“Pretty much resigned myself that I was going to die,” said Humphrey. “I’m posting online on my Facebook, I have several thousand people that follow me, and I’ve been telling them what’s going on on my transplant journey, and one of these people was a lady named Pam Hendrickson.”
Pam lives in Wisconsin. It was their shared love for German Shepherds that connected her with Robert on social media a few years earlier, but neither of them could have ever imagined how deep that connection would become.
“On January the third she contacted me and said, ‘Bob, EJ, her son, was killed in a car accident yesterday,’ and she said, ‘would you be interested in having his heart,’” said Humphrey.
A few days later, Robert was out of surgery and on his way to recovery with a new heart.
“We were just stunned because you never in a million years would suspect someone you know to give you that heart and then for it to be a 100 percent match,” said Humphrey.
Tampa General Hospital is among the country’s leaders in organ transplants, but Director and Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery, Dr. Lucian Lozonschi, says this is the first time he can recall the family of a heart donor actually knowing the recipient.
“This is an extraordinary example how a deep connection on social media could save Robert’s life, who was waiting for a heart,” said Dr. Lozonschi.
“Having someone save your life is not a small thing, having someone think of you in a time of tragedy; I mean, she just lost her son, and she thought of me,” said Humphrey.
Robert and Pam have yet to meet in person, but they continue to stay in close contact over social media.
“It’s hard to lose somebody like your son so young, especially because he has two little kids that were his world, and they are missing their dad but hopefully someday they can go on and maybe hear dad’s heart still beating, another person able to live because their dad was able to help him,” said Hendrickson.
Robert hopes his story inspires others to choose organ donation.
“I wouldn’t be here today if EJ hadn’t registered to be an organ donor,” said Humphrey. “I think if I’m not a voice for Donate Life and the organ transplant community I don’t know who would be.”
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