| Location | Loma Linda, California, United States |
| Age | 1 month, 1 day |
| Cause of Death | Organ Failure |
| Date of Birth | 14/10/1984 |
| Date of Death | 15/11/1984 |
| Visitors | 410 since 27/10/2009 |
| Creator |
Stephanie was the first successful infant heart transplant. Known to the public as "Baby Fae,"
Stephanie was born with a rare heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome, in which the
left side of the heart is underdeveloped. When she was twelve days old, Stephanie became the first
baby to recieve a heart not of human origin. The heart, that of a baboon, was initially functional,
but after just two weeks, it began to fail. The heart's failure caused her other organs to fail,
and Stephanie passed away on November 15, 1984. To this day, the reason for the heart's failure
remains a mystery.
What kind of place would heaven be with all its streets of gold, if all the souls, that dwell up there like yours and mine, were old? How strange would heaven’s music sound when harps begin to ring, if children were not gathered ‘round to help the angels sing. The children that God sends to us are only just a loan, He knows we need their sunshine to make the house a home. We need the inspiration of a baby’s blessed smile. He doesn’t say they’ve come to stay, just lends them for a while. Sometimes it takes them years to do the work for which they come. Sometimes in just a month or two our Father calls them home. I like to think some souls up there bear not one sinful scar. I love to think of heaven as a place where children are.
xxx
Waiting at the Door
I can’t explain so deep inside
The very fabric of my soul
Only a heart that grieves such loss
Can ever truly understand
It’s like you’re waiting at the door
Until a loved one comes back home
You feel a longing in your heart
When they appear the longing stops
But in a loss that never ends
You’re always standing at that door
You feel the longing in the breeze
So incomplete and never filled
I cannot find the words to say
Just what it’s like to want forever
Never seeing them again
Just always waiting at the door
Alison Mary Dunn
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