NAPLES, Fla. — A 15-year-old Naples boy who suffered a stroke just hours after receiving a life-saving heart transplant, woke up and started speaking just seconds after pulling life support according to his family.
Fox 4's Eric Lovelace shows us Paxton's miracle:
Paxton West's family says he has battled heart problems his entire life, undergoing his first open-heart surgery at just 3 days old due to a congenital heart defect.
His mother, Jennie West, says she spent years preparing for the inevitable need for a heart transplant.
Paxton's condition remained relatively stable until he collapsed at school one day, his mother said.
"Come to find out he had a clot, in his heart," West said.
After years of waiting, the family received the call that a heart was available for Paxton. The family says the transplant surgery lasted more than 12 hours, and doctors said it was successful.
The family was sent home to rest, but their relief was short-lived. Just four hours later, the family says they received devastating news.
"4 hours later we got the call he was seizing, and that he had a stroke," West said.
The family said the stroke led to difficult conversations about Paxton's quality of life, and the family made the heartbreaking decision to remove him from life support.
"It feels like we traded half a heart, for half a life," West said.
As the West family faced this crisis, community member Kandi Glick Hillyer started a GoFundMe campaign to support them.
"To know them, is literally to love them," Hillyer said.
Jennie says she decided to spend one final night sleeping beside her son in the hospital bed. But Paxton had other plans.
"He said 'momma momma' twice, and we all looked around at each other," West said.
Against all odds, Paxton woke up and began talking to his family.
"He's incredible, grown adults would have given up by now," West said.
Paxton's mother says he faces a long recovery journey with an uncertain outcome, but his mother remains determined to give him the best life possible.
"I swear I'll go to the ends of the earth to give this boy as normal of a life as possible because he deserves it," she said. "He's been through enough, I think that's what kills me the most, he's been through enough."
If you wish to support Paxton's recovery journey, you can find the fundraiser here.
