Brandon Needs a Heart Transplant
This is my beautiful grandson Brandon LaValley, 25, with his Patrick Swayze smile, and he needs your prayers.
I took this picture yesterday in the ICU. He looks strong, but please don’t be fooled by that brave smile. Without a new heart, Brandon will not survive, and we may have only 2 weeks left to find one. His Impella Pump has only two weeks left, his heart too poor for a new pump.
Our whole family is brokenhearted and we are ready for a fight! We’re fighting every day for Brandon’s life and trying to find the strength to keep pushing — to fight a system that feels so unfair. He must get a heart and in order to get a heart a hospital must approve him. Brigham’s and Women’s Hospital, while providing excellent care of Brandon, their transplant team turned Brandon down from being put on the list!! The doctor said the best they can do is start to wean him off the Impella pump and give him a special IV medication that once he’s off the pump he’ll be discharged to home, basically to die.
He is only 25.
More than anything, we need him placed on the transplant list.
I always believed a heart transplant was decided by medical need and tissue match — nothing more. I thought things like income, beliefs, background, or lifestyle didn’t matter. Before someone even makes it onto the transplant list, other judgments certainly come into play — things that have little to do with a person’s actual medical condition or will to live.
In Brandon’s case, those assumptions have a devastating and unjust outcome…he is going to die without a heart transplant and the Transplant Team committee has declined wanting to add Brandon to their Transplant List because of past medical "behaviors."
Between the ages of 20 and 25, Brandon missed a few doctor appointments — not because he didn’t care, but because life was hard. Like so many young adults, he struggled to afford care and transportation. Now they’re using that against him, saying it means he isn’t "responsible enough." How wrong that is.
Yes, Brandon has smoked marijuana and had an occasional beer with friends — nothing more. He’s no addict, and his bloodwork proves it. He knows what a second chance means. He’s ready for it, committed to it, and wants to live. Yet somehow, these small things are being turned into reasons to deny him a heart.
After surviving cardiac arrest, three weeks in a coma, and life support, they had a psychiatrist evaluate him. Brandon had only just woken up — dazed, weak, trying to make sense of it all. He was calm, quiet, watching cartoons because it helped him feel comfortable. The doctor took that to mean he didn’t understand how "serious his situation was." Because of that, they determined he wouldn’t care for a new heart received. They also determined he didn’t have a "strong support network there" to help him ; he is in Massachusetts and family in New Hampshire. A huge criteria is one must live close to the transplant center in a home free of pets, carpeting and stairs for six months after with caretaking health. Who were they to assume we couldn’t make that happen for Brandon? When they asked his parents or him "Do you have access to a Boston apartment that meets those requirements and they say "No.". Is not the same thing as saying "You do realize your family will need to find six months medical housing for Brandon, correct?" Then the answer would have been "Yes."
I can’t tell you how painful this is.
Their opinions don’t reflect who Brandon is. They don’t know him. He’s the same young man who joined ROTC in high school, hoping one day to serve his country despite being born with a heart defect. He’s the young man who worked long hours in restaurants — sometimes 70 hours a week — just to move forward. He’s a gentle soul who loves gaming, laughter, and making people smile.
It breaks my heart that financial hardship — which so many families face — is being used as another reason to hold him back. Even post-surgery, the medications alone will cost over $3,200 a month. How can anyone be expected to automatically afford that? It shouldn’t determine whether someone lives or dies. But it does.
Brandon was born with a hole in his heart, repaired at 5 months old and again at 14 years old. We knew one day he’d need another surgery as an adult. With little notice, everything came crashing down. On September 01, Brandon went to an urgent care in Seabrook, NH, with swollen legs. They sent him home, calling it "edema." A few days later, another urgent care did the same. His mom saw him and rushed him to Boston, where his cardiac doctors found he was in heart failure — and within hours he crashed and went into cardiac arrest.
Today he’s in ICU — hanging on, smiling when he can, still fighting. But time is getting short. Brandon wants to live and deserves a fair chance — a spot on that transplant list based on need, not judgment.
Please, pray for Brandon. Please share his story. We still believe in miracles.
Funds are also urgently needed to help cover the costs of his ongoing medical care and needs. We need to give him every possible resource to meet the hospital’s strict requirements for special housing near hospital for his post care so that he can be added to the transplant list. We have a GoFundMe at:
We love you Brandon and will do whatever it takes to get you on that Transplant List.
Update: October 25, 2025
Today we had a special meeting with the entire Transplant Team. They’re continuing to remove his Impella pump by next week. It is non functional and needs out now. His IV runs the medication Milrinone which is actually making Brandon’s heart pump. One day next week he will go in surgery for a defibrillator pacemaker. Then five days after pacemaker he will be discharged to our home with home profusion iv therapy. They will train me and his mom and dad on how to work the infusion pump. He’ll have nursing and infusion nurses come to house. We also will bring him in to Boston once a week for appts….and here’s where it’s sooooo awesome… in one month (not
Update: Oct. 27, 2025
We’re reaching out for support to help cover the costs of his ongoing medical care, anti-rejection medications, and housing near the hospital for six months after his surgery. Every donation, no matter the size, will help ease the burden and allow us to focus on what matters most: Brandon’s hope for a new heart and healing.
If you’re able, please consider contributing or sharing our story. Your kindness and prayers mean the world to us. Thank you for standing with Brandon and our family during this time. ♥️🙏🏼
Love Gramma
Cyndi Caron
Comments
Post a Comment