At 17, Elgin girl gets a new heart and new hope

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the spellling of EriK Thiel.

After struggling with a congenital heart defect since birth, 17-year-old Keri Woodruff finally has a new heart.

The Elgin High School sophomore had been on the list for a heart transplant for more than a year. She learned March 1 that a heart had become available.

"It was crazy because we've been waiting 14 months," said Keri's mother, Lynne Woodruff, of Elgin. "I almost didn't expect to ever get the call ... and then, it was panic."

Keri had the transplant Monday at Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago. Doctors have since removed her breathing tube and she is able to sit up and watch television.

Keri said she was nervous and scared at first when she got the call.

"I didn't really know how it was going to all play out," she said. "I actually kind of feel like this was meant to happen, and that my prayers have been answered. This process has been very hard."

While the operation was a success, Keri's recovery involves a lot of testing and procedures as doctors make sure her body doesn't reject the heart.

"It's a miracle," her mother said. "It's still going to be probably a couple of months before we can take her home."

Keri's current and former teachers and classmates, family friends, her mother's co-workers and members of St. John's Lutheran Church and School in Elgin, where Keri studied through eighth grade, organized two fundraisers last week to help with her medical bills. More than $7,600 has been raised so far toward a $10,000 goal through fundraisers and online donations at gofundme.com.

"That was amazing," Lynne Woodruff said.

St. John's school sold bracelets Keri designed and her mother sold concessions at a few school functions, said Linda Hoffmann, school secretary.

"They will need a great deal more than ($10,000)," Hoffmann said.

The community support and prayers have "been overwhelming," said Woodruff, 52, a single mother who retired as a corrections officer from the Kane County sheriff's department when Keri was put on the transplant list.

"You know that saying, 'It takes a village to raise a child' ... well they are my village," she said.

Insurance has covered most of Keri's hospital bills, but the family could use help with out-of-pocket expenses, such as meals and transportation costs.

"I paid $15,000 out-of-pocket last year," Woodruff said. "The $10,000 will go toward whatever medical bills we have or will have."

Woodruff said she can't recall a time Keri didn't require some kind of medical treatment.

"Her entire life, it's been one crisis after another," Woodruff said. "She's never really been in great health. We're always waiting for the other shoe to drop."

A full-term twin, Keri has had heart problems since she was 4 days old. She had five surgeries before turning 3. For several years after, she was fine taking medicine every day, Woodruff said. Keri's twin, Jessi, doesn't have any health problems. Keri also has a younger sister Sami, 13, and an older brother EriK Thiel, 23.

"She could do pretty much what other kids could do. She just couldn't quite keep up," Woodruff said. "She was smaller and weaker, and she got tired."

About eight years ago, Keri was diagnosed with protein-losing enteropathy ­- a wasting disease stunting her growth - a side effect of one of the surgeries she had as a baby.

"They were able to control it with medication up until about a year ago, and the only cure is a transplant," Woodruff said.

A petite 4 feet, 8 inches, Keri's body could not support an adult-sized heart.

Woodruff said she would like to know whose heart now beats within her daughter's chest and reach out to the child's family. The hospital hasn't divulged that information, she said.

"Our best day was their worst day, and my heart goes out to them," Woodruff said. "I would like to say thank you. Keri wants to say thank you, but we understand some people don't want to be contacted."

Woodruff said after Keri's release from the hospital, she wants to go on vacation since she hasn't been allowed to travel more than two hours away for the past year.

"She wants to go to somewhere where she can swim with dolphins, so probably Sea World," she said. "It will take me a while to save up for that, but we'll get there."

Hope: 'Our best day was their worst day,' Keri's mom says of donor family