Tabitha’s new heart gives her a new outlook

Heart Transplant Recipient

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Tabitha Fiorenza, 7, of Struthers received a new heart.

STRUTHERS — Twenty-two will probably become Tabitha Fiorenza’s lucky number.

Tabitha, or Tabby, as her family and friends call the plucky 7-year-old, had a heart transplant Sept. 3 and is expected to be back in school in January with her second-grade classmates at Struthers Elementary.

The No. 22 is significant because Tabitha was 22nd in line for the heart she received.

Twenty-one people in front of her couldn’t accept the heart because it wasn’t a match, said Tabitha’s parents, Lori and Michael Fiorenza. Lori got the call they had been anxiously awaiting from the Cleveland Clinic — that a heart was available — at 4 p.m. Sept. 2 while Michael was at work.

Packed and ready to go, they left their other children, Hayley, 5, and Alex, 11 months at the time, with Lori’s parents, John and Lois Porter of Austintown, and drove to the clinic, arriving at 7 p.m. Hospital staff prepared Tabitha for transplant surgery and took her to the operating room at 5 a.m. Sept. 3. By 11:30 a.m., she had her new heart.

Read more in Friday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com