Atlanta-based Piedmont Healthcare recently honored nurse Lori Wood with the 2018-19 President's Award, recognizing her part in helping 27-year-old Jonathan Pinkard become eligible for a heart transplant, according to Today Health.
Ms. Wood, an intensive care unit nurse at Piedmont Newnan (Ga.) Hospital, adopted Mr. Pinkard to make him eligible for the transplant.
Ms. Wood was assigned to care for Mr. Pinkard last December. He needed a heart transplant but was not eligible to receive one because he had no support system to help him after the procedure. He had been hospitalized on and off since August 2018, and was often discharged to a homeless shelter.
Anne Paschke, a spokesperson for United Network for Organ Sharing, told Today Health that with so many patients waiting to receive transplants, there is a higher level of scrutiny of those selected for the procedures.
"They're going to look at things like do you show up for appointments and follow doctors' orders?" she told Today.
Two days after she met Mr. Pinkard, Ms. Wood asked if she could become his legal guardian.
"I had to help him. It was a no-brainer," she told Today.
Mr. Pinkard received the heart transplant in August. He has moved in with Ms. Wood, who is caring for him postsurgery and helping him get back on his feet so that he can live independently.
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