Utah recipient of heart transplant meets donor’s family for the first time
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Ashley Stewart received a life-saving heart transplant in 2022 when she was 31 years old. Two years later, she met the family of the woman whose heart saved her life.
Stewart received the heart of Raquel Colucci, who died of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 43 while on a trip to Las Vegas. After Colucci passed away, her husband Gino and daughter Melody helped make the decision to donate her organs and tissue.
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On Saturday, after traveling from Arizona, Gino and Melody met Ashley for the first time in Salt Lake City.
“Very healing, knowing that it’s real,” Gino said.
Gino and Melody also met Ashley’s infant daughter, who was given the middle name Raquel in honor of the woman whose heart saved the life of her mother.
“Knowing that they were able to bring a child into this world because of Raquel’s heart, it’s just … I mean, I can’t describe how amazing that is,” Gino said.
Stewart said she ended up in the hospital after a stroke, and some of the treatment for it caused issues with her heart.
“That kind of overloaded my heart with fluid and it could not work properly,” Stewart said. “From there, I was put on the transplant list.”
According to the organization DonorConnect, with the donations of Colucci’s organs — her heart, kidneys, lungs and liver — she was able to save the lives of five people. With her tissue donations, she helped heal up to 75 people, DonorConnect said.
“It has been … just an incredible experience to be able to still be alive and be a mom and be with my family,” Stewart said. “That’s all thanks to Raquel, and to Gino and Melody for donating her organs.”
Colucci’s eyes were also donated, and through that donation, she was able to help give the gift of sight.
“It was a grueling process, but it was totally worth it,” Gino said.
DonorConnect said both Stewart and the Colucci family hope to encourage more people to register to become donors for organs, eyes and tissue.
“I’m so thankful for what she did for me,” Stewart said. “I will try to do all good things and be a kind person and it’s all because of her.”
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