‘I always felt loved’ Batesville High School principal shares special bond with 2024 graduating class after her heart transplant
BATESVILLE, Ark. – A graduating high school class in Batesville shares a special connection with their principal after she had a heart transplant.
Batesville High School Principal Stacey Lindsey has been in education for over 30 years, and for nearly a decade she has had health problems. She finally learned what was wrong in 2019.
“I was diagnosed with a disease called cardiac sarcoidosis. It went undiagnosed for so long that it scarred my heart,” Lindsey said.
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Lindsey said in 2020 she took the role of principal for Batesville High School and she never imagined it would also be her saving grace.
Her acts of kindness around the school were returned by students when her mother, father, and daughter died in 2022.
“They lifted me like I never thought possible,” Lindsey said.
In the year of 2023, the school gave her comfort when her health worsened.
“They sent cards and gifts and love.” Lindsey goes on to say, “It gets you through a lot of the hard times.”
But those hard times wouldn’t be forever like when she said doctors told her in December of 2023 she would be receiving a heart transplant.
“My exact surgery day was on December 10th; I got a heart. It was a gift,” Lindsey said.
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She was unable to return to work after the transplant but there was one tradition she couldn’t miss: graduation.
“I just love them and appreciate what they have done for me,” Lindsey said. “They started with me and went through all of those trials. I never felt forgotten. I always felt loved.”
The love was felt by all the 203 graduating seniors, like Penelope Nelms who said Lindsey was the heart of the school.
“She has gone through so much but she has loved us so much that she was there for us, and she hugged every single one of us,” Nelms said.
Lindsey said she had gloves and a mask on during the graduation where she was on stage to the side and hugged those who walked across. While the students received their diplomas each of them also gave her a special gift in return.
“At graduation when they handed me these little hearts with their initials on it, you just know that your heart is full,” Lindsey said. “I don’t know what I offered to people in the past, but I know what they offered to me. I know those kids and this faculty, and our community offered my life back.”
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During the graduation, the class also presented around $2000 that they chose to donate to the American Heart Association.
Lindsey is retiring at the end of this school year and said she is beyond grateful.
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