在大约一年的线上电子游戏飞禽走兽里，她获得了一个大学学位，一颗新的心脏和一个丈夫

While the other kids went out to play during kindergarten recess, Katherine Herrmann had to stay inside.

她生来就有心脏问题，需要每天服药. 因为她服用了血液稀释剂，所以她不敢冒险受伤流血.

凯瑟琳还是个婴儿时，她的母亲就注意到她呼吸困难. She was diagnosed with Shone's complex, 一种罕见的先天性心脏病，以至少两个影响心脏左侧血流的缺陷为特征.

几周后，医生为凯瑟琳做了心脏直视手术，更换了她的瓣膜.

到她一岁生日的时候，这个来自俄亥俄州坎顿的女孩已经经历了七次手术.

随着年龄的增长, 凯瑟琳找到了她认为安全而且喜欢的活动, 比如跳舞, 戏剧及唱诗班. 她还参与了美国心脏协会的小学筹款活动. She liked to share her story because it could help people.

10岁时，她开始去看心理医生，讨论作为心脏病患者的生活. 在那里，凯瑟琳学会了描述自己的感受，并尽可能地寻找快乐.

Soon, she found plenty of opportunities for that.

13岁时，她将自己对表演的热爱与谈话结合起来，开设了自己的YouTube频道. Sometimes she'd talk about her medical procedures, but usually she'd make rainbow looms and bracelets, muse on daily life and answer readers' mail. (She had her own post office box.) She even earned a little money from it.

At 14, her replacement heart valves wore out. She needed yet another replacement.

Her parents had been dreading it. But Katherine turned it into a show of strength.

她不仅大胆地跳着舞进入手术室，而且还伴随着“Pumpin Blood”的歌声." Doctors and nurses got into it, 太, pumping their fists to the lyrics, “是你的心脏, 它还活着. 它在输送血液. And the whole wide world is whistling."

The operation itself was a success. And having two new healthy valves transformed Katherine. She felt more energetic than ever. She enjoyed a growth spurt, shooting up 4 inches.

但在高中最后一年，她的精力开始转向错误的方向. By December of her freshman year of college, she underwent a relatively routine procedure to replace a pacemaker.

当医生去看她的时候，他告诉她她有心力衰竭. Her next option would be a heart transplant.

她和她妈妈, 卡拉哈利, 听了一个多小时，医生滔滔不绝地讲述了心力衰竭患者的饮食和生活方式.

When he left the room, Katherine sobbed.

确诊后，许多人建议她离开学校，专注于自己的健康.

“我不会年复一年地坐在家里等一颗心脏，”她告诉他们.

Besides, she had another reason to stay on campus. She'd started dating a fellow freshman named 伊恩 Herrmann.

As the semesters passed, Katherine could feel her body declining. By her senior year, she couldn't walk for more than five minutes.

By then, she'd also gone on the heart transplant waiting list.

She graduated from college in May 2022. 一个月后, 她的健康状况恶化到了这样的地步:她进了医院，知道她要么带着一颗新的心脏出来，要么根本就没有.

大约一个月后，她去看妈妈时，一位外科医生过来了.

"We have a heart for you, and it's strong," he said.

They looked at him, stunned. Minutes later, alone again, they hugged and cried.

The next day, July 25, 2022, Katherine received her new heart. 那天深夜, she had enough strength to video chat with her mother – and 伊恩, who by now was her fiancé.

第二天早上，海莉到了医院，发现女儿已经坐起来了.

去年春天, 凯瑟琳和伊恩在她的教堂举行了婚礼，牧师从她刚出生时就一直为她祈祷. He'd vowed that this day would come.

"Everybody in that room had been praying for us," Haley said. "When Katherine walked down that aisle as strong as could be, that's the moment that I knew, 她做到了!' She's accomplished more than I ever could have imagined."

下个月, Katherine was able to meet – and thank – the family of her donor, 两个孩子的年轻母亲.

“我在用我的心，她给我的心，尽我所能，”她说.

Now 23, Katherine works as an emergency dispatcher. 她还在攻读硕士学位，希望成为一名儿科心理健康咨询师.

"People ask me if I'm feeling back to normal," she said. “不，这是一个全新的世界，因为我一开始就没有正常的心脏. I'm living a life that I never could before."

发自内心的故事 记录心脏病和中风幸存者、护理人员和倡导者的鼓舞人心的旅程.