Mansfield's Sarah Adkins' heart transplant journey leads to Cleveland Clinic wait list
A 2007 graduate of Mansfield Senior High School has been waiting about six months for a new heart since she joined the waiting list at Cleveland Clinic.
The woman and her family recently spoke about her life since having a left ventricular assist device surgically placed in her to help her heart pump faster, which the News Journal profiled in 2017.
Meet your neighbor Sarah Adkins, a devout Christian who testifies to God’s power.
The 34-year-old mother turns 35 in June, but “once it’s past 25, you just stop counting,” she said with a laugh.
Family support means everything
Adkins' fiancé, Eric Vrabel, has stayed by her side the entire time.
“He’s my support animal, my security blanket,” Adkins said. “If it wasn’t for him, I would’ve quit. He’s my strength, along with my children.”
Her children — Zoey, Zane, Brently and Kimber — range in age from 9 to 12.
Vrabel had come back into Adkins' life shortly before her diagnosis of heart failure at age 27. “We dated briefly in high school, I came back in the picture in 2013,” Vrabel said.
He noted when Adkins got sick, she was laid up in bed. "I thought she had pneumonia or something. She couldn’t breathe."
Adkins' mother sees God in all of this.
“God brought Eric back into Sarah’s life because He knew he was going to be the perfect person that she could go through with this,” said Loretta Adkins. “It gives me chills just thinking about it, I feel like I’m going to cry. We are the sidekick to Eric.”
Her husband, Bernie Adkins, shared how they helped their daughter during the initial surgery in Columbus.
“When she was in the hospital the first time, we had to keep the kids. We wouldn’t have it any other way because that’s our daughter,” Bernie shared.
The wait for a new heart
Doctors need to ensure Adkins is the best candidate when a heart becomes available.
“I am going through doctor's appointments after doctor appointments, getting tested in every single possible way from the head to the toe to make sure everything else is healthy,” she said.
Her antibodies remain stubbornly high, though, which may delay her transplant.
“I’ve had pregnancies before, and a couple miscarriages, which causes your antibodies to go up really high. Placing a heart with me will be a lot more difficult. It could take a while,” Adkins said.
There is no average amount of time LVAD patients might learn that a heart is waiting for them. One friend was listed on the transplant list six months after receiving her LVAD.
“They listed her and 12 hours later she got the call that a heart was there. It’s really just by chance,” Adkins said.
A message of faith and awareness
Although she questioned God’s decision to permit her heart failure, Adkins has leaned deeper into her faith. She doesn’t ask "why" anymore; instead she asks “‘Why not me?"
"When I come out of this, my testimony is going to be, ‘look what God did.’ A walking miracle. I already am," Adkins said.
The effect of heart failure on her life has manifested in different ways. Her children have had genetic testing so Adkins knows what to look for if they start to show symptoms.
Already an organ donor before her diagnosis, Adkins continues to raise awareness and urges everyone to do their own research.
"The gift of life is just the best gift you can give anybody,” she said. "There’s so many people out there — not just me — there’s children dealing with this.”
Adkins wants every organ of hers to be used — eventually.
“If there's anything left that can be used, take it; I’m not taking it to heaven with me, so anybody can have it."
Correspondent Joe Di Lullo can be reached at muckrack.com/dilulloj or jp.dilullo0926@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Mansfield OH woman waits for heart transplant
