Heart transplant recipient honors donor family as Valentine’s Day and National Donor Day coincide
As Michael Twitchell prepares to celebrate his 63rd birthday on February 15, he’ll have an extra reason to be grateful this year. The day after Valentine’s Day and National Donor Day, Twitchell will mark another milestone he once feared he might never reach—all thanks to a stranger’s ultimate gift of love.
In July 2021, after spending nearly 1,000 days on the transplant waiting list, Twitchell received a life-saving heart transplant. The Commerce City resident had been diagnosed with Idiopathic Restrictive Cardiomyopathy, a rare condition that forced him to medically retire from his career as a registered nurse.
“I was told I was too sick to continue working,” Twitchell recalls. “It was devastating to me. I had dedicated my life to helping others.”
The journey from diagnosis to transplant was long and uncertain. Twitchell and his wife relocated from Grand Junction to the Denver area to be closer to the hospital, knowing that when the call came, they needed to be ready regardless of road conditions or weather. As months turned into years, and the COVID-19 pandemic added new fears, Twitchell worried he might not survive the wait.
But on a summer night in 2021, at 1:00 a.m., the call finally came. His gift was available.
“I got through the transplant, spent three weeks in the hospital, and left with a new life,” Twitchell says.
Today, the once-bedridden patient who needed an electric wheelchair for mobility is an avid walker, hiker, cyclist, and fisherman. He and his wife of more than 40 years now take photo safaris into the Colorado mountains he loves.
Perhaps most meaningful, Twitchell has met his donor’s family face-to-face—his donor’s mother, brother, and three children. What began with a letter six months after his transplant blossomed into an ongoing relationship marked by emails, texts, photos, and eventually an in-person meeting.
“I was able to tell them how much this gift means to me, how it saved my life and allowed me to retire with my wife, to see my grandchildren grow up, and to enjoy an active life again,” Twitchell says.
Now, he’s paying it forward as a volunteer advocate with Donor Alliance, helping others understand the life-changing power of organ donation.
Twitchell’s story is one of hope, but thousands of others are still waiting for their chance. Today, more than 1,400 people across Colorado and Wyoming continue to wait for a lifesaving transplant. Every person who chooses to save a life by joining the donor registry brings us closer to eliminating the waitlist.
One person can save up to eight lives through organ donation and save and heal more than 75 lives through tissue donation.
As Valentine’s Day and National Donor Day fall on the same date this year—February 14—Twitchell’s message is clear: organ donation is the ultimate gift of love.
For more information or to register as an organ and tissue donor, please visit DonorAlliance.org.
