12-Year-Old Girl Gets Another Chance at Life

A 12-year-old Rigby girl is back home after the fight of her life. Her return was nothing less than a heartwarming moment.

After an anonymous organ donor gave their daughter, Shalese Martin, another chance at life she was able to come home to more than just open arms.

Balloons, welcome banners, neighbors and loved ones all lined up near the Martin’s home to give a surprise welcome Shalese. She was escorted by Idaho State Police, the Jefferson County Sheriff Department, Jefferson Central and Rigby Police to her home.

She said she was overwhelmed with joy and cannot thank her supporters enough.

“I am just very thankful for them and their prayers and their support and I love them,” Shalese said.

Since she was born, Shalese had been fighting for her life and some nurses are calling her a “rockstar.”

She was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, also known as HLHS. It is a congenital heart defect where the left side of the heart is underdeveloped.

She had her first open heart surgery when she was just a week old.

Shalese underwent numerous surgeries and they were successful but complications would come soon after.

In March 2016, she was finally put on the list for a heart transplant.

After over three months of waiting, her parents received the call of a lifetime.

Her surgery took 12 hours. She still has some mild rejection of her new heart but her parents said the transplant team is working on adjusting her medications to help.

“It’s a journey that we really couldn’t do alone and to have the support of so many people. I mean they gave Shalese cards on her birthday and they’ve always sent her messages. They send us messages and they just helped us go through a very difficult time and to say thank you seems terribly insignificant,” Chad and Katie Martin said.

Shalese’s homecoming could not have been better timing for her great-grandfather because it is a special day for him as well. He celebrates his 68th wedding anniversary.

“What an anniversary to have for Shalese being home from a heart transplant and she’s doing well,” Shalese’s Great-Grandfather LeRoy Hope said.

There is one thing that Shalese said she is looking forward to.

“Just to be home,” she said.

The family said they do not know who donated and the donors do not know who the family is. The process to find out involves sending in a letter to the United Nations for organ sharing and if the donor sends in a letter, they will match the family up to see if they can meet each other.

If you would like to become an organ donor, click here.