In November, Barbara Edmond got to share an embrace with Coasie Parker, the woman who received her son’s heart after he passed away in 2014. Surrounded by the Baptist heart transplant team and the Mid-South Transplant Foundation, the two shared tears and stories that touched the hearts of everyone in the crowd.
“Miracles happen here at Baptist every day,” said Dana Dye, vice president and CEO at Baptist Memphis.
As Barbara held a stethoscope to Coasie’s heart, listening to her son’s heart beat for the first time in three years, the power of those miracles was clear.
Sharing a Special Gift
When Barbara’s son, Reginald Mercer IV, passed away, her decision to donate his organs changed Coasie’s life. Since receiving her new heart, she has earned a bachelor’s degree and is working on her master’s.
Barbara also donated her son’s lungs, kidney, and liver—saving five lives. Today, more than 116,000 people are waiting for a donor.
The area’s only adult heart transplant program
Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis has been a transplant pioneer in the Mid-
South since completing the area’s first heart transplant in 1985. Since then, they have completed close to 400 transplants to date with a survival rate of 96% the first year.
Medicare certified the program in 1996, and this year, BlueCross BlueShield designated it as a Blue Distinction Center for Transplants.
Baptist Memphis’ transplant program at a glance
- Started in 1985
- 381 transplants performed, including 18 this year
- 96% 1-year survival rate
