Two toddlers who formerly clung to life side by side are now thriving and playing together, one year after receiving life-saving heart transplants at the same Ohio hospital. Their families can now celebrate and take stock of their progress.
As babies, Raleigh Havens and Shaun Evans were both receiving treatment at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus for serious heart issues. During the most difficult times of their kids’ medical struggles, their moms, Eva Havens and Michelle Evans, grew close through love, hope, and concern.
In homage to the Berlin Heart, a ventricular support device that kept both boys alive as they awaited donor hearts, hospital staff affectionately dubbed to the boys as “The Berlin Boys.”
Eva told NBC4 Columbus, “I was really afraid for what the future held for both of these kids.” When we initially met, they were both in really severe condition. We supported one another.
Raleigh was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a dangerous disorder that weakens the heart muscle, at the age of 11 weeks, according to 10TV. At about the same time, following several visits to the doctor, Michelle and Rayshaun Evans discovered that their six-month-old baby, Shaun, had advanced heart failure.
Michelle remembered that physicians had warned that Shaun might not survive the weekend.
The doctors were fast. In order to keep Shaun alive until a transplant was available, a Berlin Heart was inserted. On June 29, 2024, Shaun had a successful transplant procedure following months of waiting. He was strong enough to be discharged after just 11 days.
Both families now view that summer as a pivotal moment in their life, and Raleigh received his transplant around the same time.
The boys are no longer in the hospital, but they still need constant treatment and care because of their damaged immune systems. However, their improvement is emotional and noteworthy.
One year following their surgeries, Eva compared watching Raleigh and Shaun play together to experiencing a real-life miracle.
She said, “You have to pinch yourself.”
Rayshaun, Shaun’s father, was extremely appreciative of his son’s gift of life. It is heartbreaking to realize that another family had to endure such a loss in order for our child to survive. However, we are incredibly grateful for their bravery and strength.
“Our boys are here today because someone decided to give,” he continued. That is the best present anyone could ask for.
One year later, what seemed like an unattainable future has turned into a happy present and the start of a friendship that will last a lifetime between two boys bound together by hope, medicine, and the wonders of contemporary healthcare.
