Will Kohn has been a fighter since birth. Born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, Will was missing the left ventricle of his heart. Almost seven years later, Will has accepted a new heart. On September 13th, the Kohn Family received the call about Will’s new heart. Mr. Kohn, Pleasant Valley teacher and father to Will, responded to the news: “We were all definitely excited, but not even close to how excited we will be when we can actually all come home together. We kind of spent 8 months in limbo never really being closer to home. Now every day is a day closer to Will coming home.”
The journey to his new heart has been a long one. The Kohns first applied for the transplant list in July of 2014. They did not receive word of possible hearts until Will was hospitalized in June of 2017. Unfortunately, the first heart did not work out. A few months before, Will was admitted as the first patient to the new University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. The family saw it as an honor and Mr. Kohn hopes “someday Will will understand how big of a deal it is.” After being admitted, Will was attached to a ventricular assist device (VAD) and a Berlin Heart. These machines were his external heart, keeping him alive until the transplant last week. He was also attached to a dialysis machine, which removes the waste and excess water from the blood, essentially replacing the function of his kidneys. Kohn says, “His kidneys are not working very well at all and he may end up needing a kidney transplant also.”
Throughout this journey the Kohn family has remained very positive. Mr. Kohn says “There are days that you cannot be all that positive, but all the support from others helps, along with all the excellent staff at U of I.” He describes Pleasant Valley High School as an enormous outlet of support. PV has helped with fundraisers, as well as the “Where there’s a Will there’s a Way” campaign. He says it’s surprising that even complete strangers have been paying attention to Will’s story and giving them a ton of support.
The “Where there’s a Will there’s a Way” slogan started before Will was born. A friend of the family came up with it, and Kohn says, “We didn’t quite understand how well it would fit at the time.” Will’s strength has proved this saying.
Today, he is doing fairly well, all things considered. He ended up having another surgery 3 days after transplant. There can still be many complications, but the Kohn family is remaining positive and riding them out. Things are going as well as they could be, this being his first transplant surgery. Hopefully he won’t need another major surgery soon and can return home. Every day is a day closer to Will going home.
Garrett Stockwell • Oct 26, 2017 at 8:44 am
Great transitions made from Will’s situation to his family’s emotions about the situation.