"It's been five months since I've had fresh air. I'm ready to walk out the door," said Eric Bennett of Milford, Delaware.
[Ads /]
Bennett has been at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania since August, desperately waiting for the call that would save his life.
"By the grace of God on Christmas Eve I got the call at 11:30 in the morning like, 'We got the perfect heart and kidney for you,'" said Bennett.
The former high school star athlete says his symptoms started out like a respiratory illness.
"I started getting a funny taste in my mouth. I was fatigued and tired all the time, so I went into my local hospital and they said, 'Your kidneys aren't working at all,'" he said.
[Ads /]
He was on dialysis for years. In August, his condition worsened, his heart had failed, and he was hooked up to a device that was keeping him alive.
"He was pretty severe because this machine he was on generally is a machine designed to support a human being for weeks. He was on for four months," said Dr. Michael Acker, Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery at HUP.
Acker, and Dr. Ronald Parsons, the director of kidney and pancreatic transplantation, played an integral role in performing this Christmas miracle for Bennett and his growing family of four.
"That was really exciting when we found out that the transplant was going to be on Christmas Day. He's been healing really well from this kidney transplant," said Parsons.
Now a team of nurses and doctors is focused on keeping him healthy so he can finally go home.
[Ads /]
"His plan is to go back to school and become a nurse, so this whole experience has really given him some focus," said Connie Romano, an acute care nurse practitioner on the heart transplant team.
He's focused on what's important: his family and a second chance at life.
"I can go on trips, vacations, go on walks, teach him how to play baseball, wrestle all that. I just can't wait to get out of here," said Bennett.
Once Bennett clears another biopsy next week, he should be good to return home. His family created a GoFundMe page to raise money for all the costs associated with the transplants.