Sensing Death, He Gives Heart to Girlfriend

PATTERSON, Calif. —  A 15-year-old boy who learned that his girlfriend needed a heart transplant reportedly had a premonition that he might die and told his mother three weeks ago that the young woman should have his heart.

Felipe Garza Jr., who had seemed to be in perfect health, died Saturday after a blood vessel burst in his head.

His family followed his wishes, and Felipe’s heart was transplanted Sunday to Donna Ashlock.

His brother, John Sanchez, 20, said Felipe told their mother, Maria, three weeks ago: “I’m going to die, and I’m going to give my heart to my girlfriend.”

Donna, 14, who also lived in this farming community 75 miles southeast of San Francisco, had just learned that she had an enlarged heart and needed a transplant.

Sanchez said his brother complained of pain on the left side of his head when he woke up Saturday morning. He was taken to the local hospital, then flown to a larger hospital in Modesto.

But by then, Felipe was brain dead, and remained technically alive only because he had been placed on a respirator, Sanchez said.

The family decided to let physicians remove Felipe’s heart for Donna and his kidneys and eyes for others in need of those organs.

With life-support systems keeping his organs alive, Felipe was flown before dawn Sunday to San Francisco’s Presbyterian Hospital, where Donna already was undergoing tests.

Donna got her transplant in a five-hour operation Sunday afternoon.