Hailey Steimel has been in need of a heart transplant. Last September, things weren't looking so good for her. In fact, she was too sick to even be on the list to receive a transplant.
She pulled through and her health improved, but she still needed a new heart. And then on the day before Valentine's Day, she got the call.
"At first I didn't know how to react, so I thought he was lying,' said Hope Steimel, Hailey's sister. "Then I heard Hailey yelling, 'No, it came. It came,' and I went upstairs and my mom was talking to someone and I knew it was here."
Since going back on the transplant list, Hailey's school and community have rallied around her, raising money and awareness for organ donations. Many of her classmates went to the hospital on Valentine's Day for a pre-surgery vigil.
"Last night we got here about nine o'clock," said classmate Hannah Burrows. "As soon as we got the call, everybody just dropped everything and we won't be leaving until she is out of there."
They stayed with her until she was taken back fur surgery. And now, according to the Hope 4 Haley Facebook page, the Iowa teen is recovering after the life-saving surgery.
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