It was a Mother’s Day that the parents of Baby Jordan – the miracle heart-transplant recipient who turns 6 months old tomorrow – won’t ever forget.
On that day, Jeff and Sadaf Trimarchi, Jordan’s parents, and the mother of the baby whose heart now beats strongly in Jordan’s chest, prayed together at St. Patrick’s Cathedral during a special service for organ donors.
“It really just hit home what she had done,” Sadaf recalled.
Jordan received the donor heart at just eight days old, and up until their meeting, the Trimarchis and the donor baby’s mother, Nicole Barton, had only exchanged phone calls.
“It was nice to put a face with the voice on the phone,” Sadaf said.
Baby Jordan was born Jan. 18 with an almond-sized tumor in his left ventricle wall, which prevented his heart from pumping correctly.
A week later in Rockford, Ill., little Breanna Barton succumbed to injuries attributed to shaken-baby syndrome at the hands of her father, Corey Loomis, 19, who faces murder and aggravated battery charges. Jordan’s parents waited for their little tot to be handed a miracle – all the while realizing it would come at a great cost for another parent.
“The story is not a happy one like it is for us,” Jeff said. “It’s a tragic one for [Nicole], although she does feel glad she helped us.”
“It felt wonderful to thank her for what she had done,” Sadaf said.
Asked what has made them most happy about Jordan’s recovery, Jeff answered emphatically, “Everything. I live to see him smile and laugh, and when he does, that makes my entire life.”