Autumn Rusch was born with holes in her heart – so many, that her cardiologist described it as looking like it had been shot with a BB gun. As she grew up, her condition worsened. She was hospitalized for weeks on end, and her heart would at times reach an unimaginable 300 beats per minute. At the age of 14, she was given a new heart that would prove a great match. She recently celebrated her 20-year anniversary with it.
To put that into perspective, only about 57 percent of heart transplant recipients survive 10 years, let alone 20. And Autumn has seen that play out in her own circle of friends; she is, as far as she knows, the only survivor of her transplant group. And still, she carries on not knowing her life expectancy.
Autumn spoke with host Gabriel Spitzer about growing up as a willful and stubborn young woman who happened to be on her second heart, and how that might have helped her survive.
