Richard Abshire - The Dallas Morning News

The lifesaving answer to a Christmas prayer at Children's Medical Center Dallas began with a tragedy miles away in East Texas.

On Dec. 19, Hunter Cippele, 20, was where he grew up near Longview, where his dad's and grandparents' houses face the lake his family built. He had climbed up on his grandparents' roof to blow off leaves and was coming down a ladder when he fell and struck his head on the concrete.

In the early hours of Christmas Eve, Mr. Cippele died.

On Christmas Eve, time was running out for Quaneisha Driver of Fort Worth, called NeNe by her mom.

The 15-year-old track, basketball and volleyball athlete suffered a heart attack in August while running as she prepared for her freshman year at Everman High School.

Christmas found her in very critical condition at Children's.

She had already undergone multiple surgeries at Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth and had survived a risky ambulance trip to Dallas - risky because she was on life support.

Too long on life support - the rule of thumb is anything more than a month - and she would no longer be eligible for a transplant. By Christmas, she had been on life support more than three weeks.

Christmas miracle

Then the Christmas Eve call came: Mr. Cippele's heart had been donated.

Tests showed it was compatible.

"We were very lucky to get a heart that fast," said Susan Daneman, heart transplant coordinator at Children's. "In other instances we've had to wait months - and she didn't have months."

The transplant was performed Christmas Day. On Monday, NeNe was resting, still on a ventilator but off the life-support system.

"It's a blessing," said Angela Driver, her mother. "She believes in God.

It's just going to take some time."

What would she say to the Cippele family?

"Thank you," she said. "It was God's gift. I love them also for doing this."

"He did what we want everybody to do," Ms. Daneman said. "He not only signed his driver's license, he let his family know his wishes."

Organ donor's gift

Mr. Cippele's uncle, Rick Cippele, said the young man believed in organ donation because of his religious faith. In addition to his heart, he donated his liver, both kidneys and his pancreas.

"My nephew was very active in the Macedonia Baptist Church, a Sunday school teacher," he said. "And he had just found the love of his life."

Hunter Cippele had met Sarah Ruth Carroll, 21, a fellow student at LeTourneau University in Longview, where he was pursuing a degree in aeronautical engineering.

On Christmas Day, as Mr. Cippele's relatives were meeting in East Texas with their pastor to make arrangements for his memorial service, the word came from Dallas: His heart had saved a life.

"It was a great comfort," his uncle said. "He was very devout in his belief, and he died when he was the happiest he had ever been. If you put those two things together, you have to be proud for him."