The unforgettable gift: a transplant that helped realize a dream

Deanna Hartman was 16 when shingles blistered her forehead and blinded her in her left eye. She adapted, displaying some of the resiliency that would serve her well in her future career. She skipped the prom, became careful on steps, and worked hard to keep her position as starting shortstop on the varsity softball team. Her depth perception was lost.

But one day, the accommodations became too much. She was in nursing school, pursuing her dream, when she tried to insert a syringe into a medicine bag and missed the mark. She realized she could not be the kind of nurse she wanted to be.

Soon after, Hartman went back to her doctor. After much discussion and evaluation, she was added to the waiting list for a cornea transplant. The operation was a success. Her vision was restored to 20-20—and the arc of a fulfilling career took shape.

Today, Hartman is a Transplant Coordinator for the Heart & Vascular Institute at Cleveland Clinic, one of the busiest and most esteemed heart centers in the world. She organizes the many steps needed to transplant a human heart from a donor to a hopeful recipient–ever mindful of her own experience.

“I think things happen for a reason,” said Hartman, a nurse for 24 years. “I get to work with a great team. And I get to meet and be with other people who are benefiting from transplantation. It helps keep my passion going.”

That passion will help her to run five kilometers through downtown Cleveland when she competes in the Transplant Games of America. The Olympic-style games, which will unfold June 10-15 in and around downtown, are designed to showcase the importance and the power of organ donations.

Most of the 6,000 athletes are able compete because of a life-changing transplant. They share a rare camaraderie and, like Hartman, a profound appreciation for second chances.

She had hoped to avoid transplant surgery and thought she was managing, until that day during junior year of nursing school, when she needed to mix an IV bag and missed the target.

“It was really at that point I realized that my version of adapting wasn’t acceptable,” she said, “and that I would be putting myself and potentially my patients in danger.”

She told her doctor she was ready. After a six week wait, she received her new cornea—the outer layer, or “window” of the eye. Her depth perception returned. So did her confidence.

Hartman graduated with highest honors from Kent State University and went to work for Cleveland Clinic, starting on the open-heart surgery floor. Fifteen years ago, she became a heart transplant coordinator.

Outside of work, she serves as an ambassador for Eversight Ohio, encouraging others to check the organ donor box and give the gift of sight. And she relaxes with runs near her home in Ravenna, where she lives with her husband and their two daughters.

The Transplant Games offer another chance to say thanks and to spread a message she considers critical. In Ohio alone, more than 3,300 people are waiting for organ transplants.

“The gift that someone gave to me is something I’ll forever be grateful for,” Hartman said. “You can really just impact and save so many lives with that one simple ‘Yes.’ You can choose to be a hero to so many.”