Addison McArthur’s life began with a fragile heartbeat.
Just a few weeks after her birth in Vancouver, doctors delivered news that shattered her parents’ joy: the left side of Addison’s heart had stopped functioning. The diagnosis—left ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy—was rare, dangerous, and life-threatening. Without a new heart, their little girl would not survive.
Elaine Yong, Addison’s mother, was thrust into a reality no parent is ever prepared for. Each breath her baby took felt borrowed, each moment shadowed by fear. Doctors placed Addison at the very top of the transplant list. It was her only chance.
Hundreds of miles away, in Nevada, another mother was facing her own heartbreak. Felicia Hill had welcomed her daughter, Audrey Sullenger, into the world with love and dreams of a future. But after just six days of life, Audrey was gone—her tiny body giving out before Felicia ever had the chance to see her grow.
In her grief, Felicia made a decision that would ripple far beyond her own loss. She chose to donate Audrey’s organs. Statistics show that one donor can save up to eight lives. In Audrey’s case, her heart was destined to become a gift of survival for a baby girl she would never meet.
On her very first Mother’s Day, Elaine got the call. There was a donor. There was hope.
The heart that had stopped inside Audrey’s body was carried north, across borders and time zones, to beat again in Addison’s chest. Audrey became Nevada’s youngest organ donor that year. Her middle name was Hope, and through that name, she gave another child a future.
For Elaine, gratitude became a second heartbeat. She longed for the chance to say thank you—to look into the eyes of the woman who had given her daughter life when all seemed lost. A year after the surgery, Elaine wrote a letter and sent it through the transplant network. Weeks later, Felicia replied. Their first connection wasn’t face-to-face, but through words—messages that bridged grief and gratitude.
Eventually, the two mothers met. At a Donate Life Walk in California, Felicia brought a small T-shirt for Addison, embroidered with Audrey’s name and the words that celebrated her gift. Elaine brought a stethoscope. With trembling hands, Felicia placed it against Addison’s chest.
And then she heard it.