Of 100,000 Americans who are awaiting a transplant, more than 2,000 of them under the age of 18.
We recently met a York County boy now enjoying normal life thanks to a Gift of Life.
For CJ Adams, of Dallastown, challenges with his heart began before he was born. His mother Jessica remembers what tests showed when she was about five months pregnant.
"His left side was on his right side and his right was on his left side, so his heart was turned around," she explains, adding, "His valves, the valves were there but they were tiny. and he had a hole in his heart."
Jessica Adams says those and other defects led to several operations at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in CJ's early years.
Even then, doctors said he might need a transplant someday. Just before he turned 9, heart failure set in.
"He was kind of slowing down, He was tired a lot," Jessica remembers.
CJ was listed for transplant and got an LVAD - a left ventricular assist device - to keep his heart going. He always had to wear the back pack power pack and be accompanied by an adult trained to handle it.
"He had to have a nurse follow him to school," says Jessica.
High antibodies complicated the search for the right heart.
"They could only match him to about 15% of the population, so his options were limited," she says.
In January, CJ and his family feared time was running out.
"He just kind of looked at me and said, he feels like God forgot about him," says Jessica.
That night after church, Jessica's phone rang.
"And at first I didn't answer it," she says. "Then his dad's phone started going off."
It was one of CJ's doctors, saying she was ready to call the police to find the Adams family, so she could tell them they'd found a new heart.
As CJ and his parents made the 2-and-a-half-hour drive to Children's Hospital, he called his best friend with the news.
The transplant was a success and by this summer, CJ was well on the road to good health.
"I have a lot more energy," he says.
He went back to school in late August and plans to play sports, all with no heart assist device. He's on many medications, but otherwise, has a fairly normal life.
Also in August, CJ threw out the first pitch at the Phillies' Organ Donor Awareness night in front of his hero.
"My favorite is Bryce Harper," says the young Phillies fan.
It was a thrilling moment for CJ and the best friend he'd called on the way to the hospital, as the announcer proclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome heart transplant recipient CJ Adams!!!!"
CJ wants to record his new heartbeat and put it into a Build-A-Bear for his donor's family, so their gift to him can live on.
The family encourages everyone they know to register as an organ donor. It can mean a lifetime for somebody.
Register as a Gift of Life donor HERE.