PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Love can find you in unusual ways.
That's certainly true for Danny Tucker.
"I had a lot of chest pain, so I went into the hospital, and they told me that if I wouldn't have came in, I wouldn't have woke up,” said Tucker.
In 2021, the then-21-year-old was diagnosed with end-stage heart failure.
"Luckily with Marisa, she ended up kind of helping with the transition,” he said.
"His sister had reached out to me, told me that her brother was not doing well,” said Marisa Thompson. “He was in the hospital. She was concerned because they were talking about end-of-life care. She kind of just asked if I could peek in on him, maybe visit him, and see how he was doing, and if I felt like he was doing as poorly as the team was communicating that he was.”
Thompson, a family friend and nurse, did some research, and Tucker ended up in the care of HCA Florida Largo Hospital.
"When he originally referred to us in November of 2021, he was pretty sick with an ejection fraction of only 10 percent, multi-organ failure,” said Shayne Kendra, an Advanced Heart Failure Coordinator at HCA Florida Largo Hospital and Tucker’s heart transplant coordinator.
Tucker was on the waitlist for a couple of months, and then in 2022, he got a heart transplant.
“All I really remember is sitting in the room and then being pushed off, and that was it, and then waking back up, and I was like barely opening my eyes, and she was standing there,” said Tucker, who is now 25.
Thompson was there through his health journey every step of the way.
“Throughout the time of her taking care of me and stuff, we kind of got a little closer and closer, then I realized I was like falling in love with her,” said Tucker. “After it was all kind of done with and I was out of the hospital, I asked her on a date."
A lunch date turned into a lifetime.
"I loved being with him every second,” said Thompson. “I did not imagine that we would end up married."
The couple is now engaged and getting married this April. Fate, in more than one way, is filling hearts with gratitude and love.
"I'm so grateful to have this chance with my person,” said Thompson.
"It's exciting to know that I got a second chance, and I get to live my life to the best I can,” said Tucker.
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