Heart Story
Listen to this story about teenager Qua’wee and his CHD Story.
“On October 10, 2021, teenager Qua’wee Mole was admitted to Prisma Health Greenville Memorial Hospital due to severe sickness. After running tests, they learned that the left side of his heart was enlarged. His condition started to deteriorate rapidly, including feet swelling to the point where he couldn’t walk and his back was weakening – his heart was no longer functioning like it should. Qua’wee went into cardiogenic shock when his heart was too damaged to supply enough blood to his organs and was placed on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, then was immediately transported to MUSC. The ECMO kept blood pumping and oxygen moving through Qua’wee’s heart, allowing his heart to rest while he waited for a heart on the transplant list.
About two months later, on December 13, Qua’wee received a heart transplant.
Today, at 14 years old and over a year later, he is back to living his life. He enjoys playing basketball and is a huge Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James fan. “If it wasn’t for the doctors and staff at Greenville Memorial Hospital, my son wouldn’t be here today. They did a fantastic job and I am so grateful for everything they did to save my son’s life,” added Nicole, Quawee’s mother.
ECMO is a short-term care solution that Prisma Health offers in the Upstate and Midlands who are experiencing cardiac and/or pulmonary failure. It pumps blood outside of the body to an external heart-lung machine that removes carbon dioxide and returns oxygen-filled blood back into the body when a heart or lung starts to fail, allowing the organs to rest and heal.
The Emerson Rose Heart Foundation helped this family out a lot through emotional and financial support.”
