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Katie McBurnett started feeling flu-like symptoms during Christmas break of freshman year, December 2006. She was admitted to Riley Children's Hospital on January 3, 2007, and not long after that, she was implanted with a Ventricular Assist Device (VAD). It pumped her enlarged heart for her, and it kept her alive. Katie put herself on the transplant list to await a new heart. She was the first person her age (15) to leave the hospital with a portable VAD. On March 29, 2007, she got the call at 2 a.m.: there was a heart for her. Later that night, after a 10 hour surgery, she was sitting up in bed in the ICU, talking. Katie left Riley nine days after the transplant, and stayed at the Ronald McDonald House of Indiana for about a month after her release from the hospital. She came home not long after that, and she was back to her old self again.
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Katie passed away at 6 a.m. Tuesday, September 18, 2012. Five and a half years after her transplant, and eight days after her 21st birthday. She is missed by everyone who came in contact with her and everyone who had their lives changed by her.
​About the initiative
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Remember Katie. Donate Life. is an initiative created by two of Katie's closest friends to help raise money for the charities and places that helped Katie most during her transplant. We are working closely with Ronald McDonald House of Indiana and Donate Life Indiana to help spread awareness of the importance of organ donation.
ABOUT KATIE
