08/20/2026
At 25, Brandon Lavalley wanted to believe he was just like any other person his age — young, healthy, invincible. And for much of his life, he felt like it might be true.
From the outside, Lavalley led a normal life as a 25-year-old. He played sports, had a job, and he spent his free time hanging out with friends.
But on the inside, things looked very different. Lavalley was born with tetralogy of Fallot, a set of four heart defects that limit the heart’s ability to pump enough oxygen-rich blood to the entire body. As an infant, Brandon underwent surgery and another surgery followed when he was a teenager, and for years afterward, life felt normal.
Then everything changed.
Last year, Brandon began experiencing swelling in his legs and feeling increasingly unwell. "I called my parents and was like, 'Honest to God, I feel like I'm dying,'" he recalled.
Doctors soon discovered he was experiencing severe heart failure. His condition deteriorated rapidly, and he was placed on ECMO, a form of life support used when the heart and lungs can no longer function on their own. He later suffered cardiac arrest and spent more than 100 days in the hospital waiting for a lifesaving heart transplant.
The road was far from easy. There were days when Brandon struggled physically and emotionally, unsure of what the future would hold. But with the support of his family and care team, he kept moving forward. Encouraged by his doctors and nurses, he began walking laps around the hospital floor, gradually rebuilding his strength while waiting for a donor heart.
Over time, the people caring for him became more than a medical team. They became family.
Then, after more than four months in the hospital, the news Brandon had been hoping for finally arrived: a matching donor heart was available.
The transplant was a success, and today, Brandon is back to focusing on the future, carrying deep gratitude for the donor and family who made his second chance possible.
