Monday, December 3, 2007

By IAN McCANN / The Dallas Morning News

Andrew Madden and Alfonso Solis acknowledged their mixed emotions Sunday, as heart transplant recipient and donor's husband met for the first time.

"I'm very happy he's doing well," Mr. Solis said. "At the same time, I miss my wife."

And 13-year-old Andrew, who's planning to return to Odessa later this month after recovery from his Sept. 30 surgery, said he recognized the grief that Mr. Solis and his family are experiencing.

"I just feel so much better, and I can do so much more," he said, tears welling in his eyes. "When one person is feeling so sad, another person can feel so happy.

She saved my life."

Andrew was Children's Medical Center Dallas' 100th heart transplant recipient, and his close relationship with his doctor quickly made headlines. They forged a bond over baseball and their mutual love of the Boston Red Sox, and Andrew got to throw out the first pitch at Fenway Park before Game 2 of the World Series.

On Sunday, Mr. Solis of Farmers Branch spoke to Andrew about his wife, Cecilia, who died Sept. 29, just 12 days after giving birth to their daughter, Emily. Through both Emily and Andrew, he said, Ms. Solis lives on.

"I'm grateful because I have a little girl who looks just like her mom," Mr. Solis said. "As long as your heart still beats, my wife is still alive."

Since the transplant, Andrew and mother Lauri Wemmer have stayed at Ronald McDonald House as he remained in Dallas for checkups and testing. And he's responded well, his mom said, gaining 15 pounds since the surgery and growing more than an inch taller.

The meeting between the donor's and recipient's families began with a cordial handshake. Ms. Wemmer said she would have preferred to meet Mr. Solis away from the public eye, and he tried to mentally block out the cameras and news reporters gathered in the Park Cities Hilton hotel suite. Pam Silvestri, a spokeswoman for the Southwest Transplant Alliance, said they would have time together after reporters left.

"Just pretend they're not here," Mr. Solis said quietly before telling the story of how he and his wife met and giving Andrew advice about how best to carry on her legacy.

"Love everyone, respect everyone, because my wife did," he said. "Do yourself a favor and always listen to your mother."

Ms. Silvestri said it is unusual for an organ donor's family and a recipient to get together so quickly. The organization most often coordinates the exchanging of anonymous letters between the two, and sometimes will help set up meetings. But media coverage helped to let both families get to know one another from afar.

Such meetings, she said, have become more common over the years.

"Actually laying eyes on the family, it gives them the opportunity to thank the person that helped them," Ms. Silvestri said.