A New Heart … A New Start … A Miracle
Preparing for High School Graduation and Planning for College
Chandler West expected his junior year of high school to be tough. He planned a year filled with challenging academics and a myriad of school activities. But as he entered the school year, he suddenly began to tire easily and did not have the energy to participate in the activities he loved. Many times he watched his friends from the sidelines, wondering why he was unable to be involved. It was during his junior year that Chandler and his family learned the reason: the deadly diagnosis of Dilated Cardiomyopathy. Chandler’s only hope was a heart transplant.
As the disease progressed, Chandler was hospitalized several times, including a lengthy stay in the intensive care unit of St. Louis Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, to receive a pacemaker. His energy level decreased tremendously, and his ability to live a normal high school teenager life became impossible. As his condition worsened, the transplant team at St. Louis Children’s told him and his family the time had come: They placed Chandler on the transplant waiting list.
That’s when Chandler’s family called the Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) for help with their mounting transplant-related expenses. When asked about the impact COTA has had on her family, Maureen West, Chandler’s Aunt said, “Let’s face it, it’s painful asking for money but we now know the rewards far out weigh any discomfort. My nephew went from being a 16-year-old boy waiting all alone for a heart transplant, to knowing that there was an army of family, friends and total strangers standing behind him. Thank you COTA, for helping us put together our army.”
Chandler received his new heart, and his second chance at life, on December 4, 2007, at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Two weeks later, he was back home in Oklahoma City, and he returned to his high school to resume his classroom studies in January.
Chandler admits he struggled to keep up with the rigors of his senior year studies, but his determination and drive kept him on top of his coursework and he was able to fulfill all graduation requirements. In addition to his homework, Chandler’s pre- and post-transplant days were also filled with college applications, scholarship forms, interviews, and lots of paperwork.
His hard work and personal motivation paid off.
Chandler will graduate on time with his senior class later this month. He has been accepted at Loyola University in Chicago where he will study science in hopes of one day becoming a doctor himself.
According to Chandler, “Each day I regain more and more strength, and I get closer to living a normal life. Of course, none of this would have been possible without gift from a person whom I will never know – someone who gave his or her life so I could keep living mine. Someone who gave me a new heart … and a new start.”
Chandler West … In His Own Words: It was the last thing I remember … being wheeled into a bright, white room. It was the first time I was truly scared. My mind was racing, but there was nothing I could do.
It all happened six months ago, on December 4, 2007, at 2:45 a.m., the exact time of my heart transplant surgery. The team of surgeons and nurses all worked together and removed my diseased heart and gave me a new one – a heart from my unknown donor. I am overwhelmed that a miracle has happened to me and I am struggling to figure out how to convey my feelings on paper. However it was, and will likely always be, the most important thing that will ever happen to me. It’s when I got a new start … a new start that I want to tell the world about.
Over a year ago I was diagnosed with a form of congestive heart failure. It all came on very suddenly with symptoms that I was ‘controlling’ with Tylenol and a day off school here and there. But before I knew it, I was being rushed to the Intensive Care Unit at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center and then life-flighted to St. Louis Children’s Hospital. That is when I first heard I would have to have a heart transplant. I spent the next three months in St. Louis - virtually the entire time in intensive care. Finally, I was put on the transplant list and sent back to Oklahoma with lots of medication and a new pacemaker.
Eventually, I got sick again. I was told the time had come and I should start to prepare. I kept the news to myself because my friends were really busy preparing for and taking college admission tests. Goodbyes happened quickly, and we began our eight-hour drive to St. Louis. I sat quietly for much of the car ride thinking that those moments could be the last time I would see my friends. I also wondered if I would get the chance to apply to, and attend, college.
On December 4th I received my second chance at life.
Now, each day I regain more and more strength, getting closer to leading a normal life. None of this would have been possible without a person whom I will never know … someone whose decision to be an organ donor allows me to keep living. Someone who gave me a new start and the chance to finish high school and start planning for college – just like my friends.
In retrospect, my high school experience has been anything but normal. I started getting sick during my junior year and from that point on, many of my high school days were spent watching from the sidelines because I was always tired and had very little energy. By that point my ability to participate in many normal high school activities was very limited.
Within six weeks of my heart transplant, I returned to high school. My energy level was much better. I began gaining weight, and people constantly told me how much healthier and better I look. But most importantly I was able to start doing the things I enjoy. This winter I actually got to go snowboarding (one of my favorite things ever), and I did not have to sit and watch from the sidelines. Each day I get closer to living a normal life.
Since getting sick, the hardest part of high school has been trying to keep up with my school work. It is amazing how quickly you get behind when you are repeatedly hospitalized, and how long it takes to catch up. My teachers were very helpful. With their guidance and my drive to succeed, I am scheduled to graduate with my friends later this spring.
College has always been my goal; specifically attending Loyola University in Chicago because of its outstanding reputation for its science curriculum. After much help and clarification of my transcripts (that clearly show a student who was absent for more than half of his senior year), I received a call on my cell phone from Loyola’s Dean of Admissions who told me I had been accepted. I was shocked. I always had an interest in medical science, but this whole transplant experience has given me a new appreciation for it. I owe everything to my team of transplant surgeons, and I want to become a doctor. I want to be able to help children in the way my doctors helped me. My ultimate goal is going to medical school to become a pediatrician so I can help children get the same miracle I got – a second chance at life.
My current challenge is figuring out how to pay for college and to that end, I have a commercial photography website (www.ChandlerWest.com) with profits helping to offset my tuition bills. I will do anything necessary to make sure my new start … my miracle … will help another child also get a second chance.
Tens of thousands of people annually provide financial support to organizations like the Children's Organ Transplant Association. COTA relies on these generously donated funds and assets to help finance special programs, our endowment and our daily work in helping give children and young adults a second chance at life.
When one of our donors passes on, however, this relationship of mutual support may pass, too -- unless that donor has made prior arrangements to include us in his or her will or a revocable living trust.
Such thoughtful planning can take several forms. For example, you can make a bequest of a specific dollar amount or asset, or a percentage of your residuary estate. An alternative is to name the Children's Organ Transplant Association (COTA) as the contingent beneficiary, which provides for us in the event your loved ones do not survive you.
You can also make a memorial or honorary gift to support our mission while paying tribute to someone you admire.
Extend the support you have provided during your lifetime.
Guarantee that your positive influence will continue to be felt.
Provide your heirs with potential tax benefits.
Reduce future estate taxes.
Make a meaningful and lasting contribution to society.
Whatever your choice, a bequest can reflect your support of COTA’s mission long after you are gone, and it can help us make our dreams for the future come true.
Please contact Rick Lofgren at 800.366.2682 or via email at
for more information.
What On Earth Are You Going To Do With Your Old Cell Phone?
Some fundraising efforts come with downsides -- too time consuming, too many up-front costs, too many volunteers needed, etc. The Children’s Organ Transplant Association’s (COTA) Recycle for Life program is a fundraising effort that is easy to organize and promote, utilizes the resources of an untapped revenue potential in your community, and has absolutely no required financial investment for participation. Through the Recycle for Life program, COTA patient campaigns receive 100% of the recycling value for each recyclable cell phone. Additionally, COTA’s recycler accepts spent printer cartridges. Adding cartridges to a cell phone recycling collection program helps generate even more funds for COTA patients. The exact amount of money received varies per item and is calculated by the recycler based on current market values. If you are ready to register for COTA’s Recycle for Life program, just follow these simple steps:
Identify and set up collection sites throughout your community.
Spread the word about the need for used cell phones/ink cartridges and promote your collection dates and locations.
Collect a minimum of 25 used cellular phones and/or 50 ink cartridges and then get them to COTA. For answers to some frequently asked questions about items that qualify for recycling click here.
Submit your Recycling Results Form to COTA via mail, fax, or email. Forms are available for downloading from the website, or you can email
or call 800.366.2682.
You will be sent mailing containers and labels. Allow two weeks to receive your supplies. All shipping costs are paid by COTA’s recycler.
Pack the phones and cartridges you collect and send them to the recycler. Please remember to pack cartridges and phones in separate boxes.
Funds will be sent to COTA for patient campaign use approximately 60 days after recycled items are received.
If you are interested in spearheading a COTA Recycle for Life program in your community, please contact us at
so that we can help to identify a COTA patient in your area who is waiting for a life-saving transplant and who needs your help. Simply by heading up a community recycling effort you will be providing hope, and possibly making a miracle, for a COTA patient.
Why not start collecting phones and printer cartridges today?
We need your help to continue to bring smiles and bright futures to kids like Samantha Conlan. Please make plans now to be a part of COTA Saturday 2008.
COTA’s One Million Miracles penny drive can turn pennies into a second chance at life for a child who needs a life-saving transplant. YOU can make a difference.
Every penny raised through COTA Saturday and the Million Miracles campaign goes to help a child. Register Today to be part of COTA Saturday 2008 and the Million Miracles campaign.
Start by thinking about an activity you can organize in your community on or around the third Saturday in September.
A fundraising activity like a car wash or bake sale.
A donor awareness activity like distributing organ donor cards at your church.
Or a combination of activities with funds going to kids who will not grow up without our help.
The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) provides: Management of the Funds Raised. Funds may be used for transplant-related expenses. The Children’s Organ Transplant Association does not charge for its services and provides families and donors the assurance that funds will be used appropriately. COTA’s program is flexible -- COTA assists families regardless of their need, or the type of support they require.
Tens of thousands of people annually provide financial support to organizations like the Children's Organ Transplant Association. COTA relies on these generously donated funds and assets to help finance special programs, our endowment and our daily work in helping give children and young adults a second chance at life. 
Some fundraising efforts come with downsides -- too time consuming, too many up-front costs, too many volunteers needed, etc. The Children’s Organ Transplant Association’s (COTA) Recycle for Life program is a fundraising effort that is easy to organize and promote, utilizes the resources of an untapped revenue potential in your community, and has absolutely no required financial investment for participation. Through the Recycle for Life program, COTA patient campaigns receive 100% of the recycling value for each recyclable cell phone. Additionally, COTA’s recycler accepts spent printer cartridges. Adding cartridges to a cell phone recycling collection program helps generate even more funds for COTA patients. The exact amount of money received varies per item and is calculated by the recycler based on current market values. If you are ready to register for COTA’s Recycle for Life program, just follow these simple steps: 
We need your help to continue to bring smiles and bright futures to kids like Samantha Conlan. Please make plans now to be a part of COTA Saturday 2008.
Tell others and get them involved in your effort. Check out who is already helping by clicking on 
