February is Heart Awareness Month. It is also the month of Paul’s birthday.

So, this month, we felt called to support a heart warrior battling the very same disease that has shaped so much of our own family’s journey — Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM).

Through the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association (HCMA), we were introduced to the Quiller family. Their son, Declan, is just seven years old. For the past seven months, Declan has been living at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota — waiting for a new heart.

Last June, his family left their home in Los Angeles so Declan could undergo a septal myectomy and have an ICD placed by Dr. Dearani. It is the very same hospital, the very same procedure, and the very same surgeon who operated on Allie at ages 9 and 19. The parallels are impossible to ignore.

But Declan’s journey took an unexpected and devastating turn.

Following surgery, complications required him to be placed on ECMO — an advanced life-support system that acts as an artificial heart and lungs, circulating blood outside the body so his own heart can rest. ECMO is typically used for days to sometimes weeks. Declan has now been on ECMO for more than seven months.

That reality is almost unimaginable.

Every single day on ECMO carries enormous risk. And yet — by the grace of God and the extraordinary team at Mayo — Declan continues to fight. He is in active rehabilitation and the staff has him walking a couple times a day if possible.

Yes, while waiting for a heart, this brave little boy has:

• Lost his first tooth

• Celebrated Halloween

• Given thanks at Thanksgiving

• Opened presents at Christmas

• Shared Valentine’s Day with his family — all from a hospital setting

 The Quiller’s have completely uprooted their lives. They now live in Rochester, staying at the Ronald McDonald House, where staff and other long-term families have become their extended family. Their older son, Rhys, attends a local elementary school just steps from the hospital — navigating childhood in the shadow of uncertainty.

Everything changed in an instant for them. And yet they remain grounded in gratitude.

• They are grateful Mayo is one of the only hospitals where ECMO patients are not confined to a bed.

• Grateful Declan is stable.

• Grateful for each ordinary moment that now feels extraordinary.

But every day, they wait for the call. The call that a heart has been found. The call that will change everything.

Many of you also know that Allie was recently admitted to the hospital in Boston to wait for her own heart. That this is unfolding during Heart Awareness Month — and Paul’s birthday month — feels deeply personal to us.

We believe Paul is up there, cheering for his baby girl. And we believe he is cheering just as loudly for Declan.

The Dostie family is profoundly grateful to the HCMA, whose guidance and advocacy have supported Allie since infancy. Their work has transformed the landscape for HCM patients and families through research, awareness, and unwavering community support.

Today, we ask you to please keep the Quiller family in your prayers.

• Pray for strength.

• Pray for peace in the waiting.

• Pray that February brings Declan his perfect match — so this brave seven-year-old can trade hospital hallways for playgrounds and finally go home.

If you haven’t already, please consider becoming an organ donor. It’s a powerful way to live on — and give someone else the priceless gift of life.