Family of HIV-positive heart donor meets daughter’s HIV-positive recipient
A woman who found new life after a breakthrough heart transplant between an HIV-positive donor and a recipient was able to meet the family of the woman who gave it to her, giving them a chance to hear their loved one’s heart beating in her new home.
Miriam Nieves, 62, on Tuesday eagerly embraced the mother and sisters of Brittany Newton, a 30-year-old Louisiana woman whose heart she received earlier this year in what doctors at Montefiore Medical Center said was the first transplant heart disease from an HIV-positive donor to an HIV-positive recipient.
“The only words that come out of Thanksgiving for me are, I’m so thankful and so thankful for science, for my family, for my God,” Nieves said. “But I can’t express enough that if it wasn’t for the donors, they are my angels, because they are the ones allowing me this second opportunity.”
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Newton’s mother, Bridgette Newton, carried a large photo of her daughter, a certified nursing assistant who died of a brain aneurysm.
An HIV-positive woman received a heart from an HIV-positive donor. The woman met the donor’s family after the transplant.
“My child is still walking around,” she said. “And for that, I will always be grateful.”
Newton’s sisters, Breanne and Brianca, used a stethoscope to listen to his heart beating in Nieves’ chest.
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Breanne Newton wasn’t surprised when she heard Nieves say she had more energy now.
“She was my sister. She had energy. She was a participant,” Breanne Newton said, adding, “We’re very, very grateful. And that’s just a blessing.”
The transplant took place in April.
Nieves, a former public relations professional who now lives in Westchester, upstate New York, overcame heroin addiction 30 years ago but remained HIV-positive.
The married mother of three and grandmother of six started suffering from heart failure after kidney problems.
In order to find a match when donor shortages are acute, doctors at the hospital have expanded their search to include HIV-positive donors. Enter Newton, an organ donor whose family only learned of her HIV status after her death.
Doctors transplanted his heart and kidney to Nieves.
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“It’s never been done before,” said Dr. Omar Saeed, a transplant cardiologist at Montefiore. “I think it’s going to be done again because we’ve shown it’s safe.”
“The reality is that there are more people who need hearts than there are hearts available,” said Dr. Vagish Hemmige, an infectious disease specialist at the facility. “The HIV Heart Transplant Program enables people living with HIV to receive life-saving donor transplants that would otherwise go unused.”
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