Ocean Gate Organ Recipient Grateful For A Third Chance At Life

OCEAN GATE, NJ - Robert Fisher had his first heart transplant back in 2013. It didn't take.

He was in and out of the hospital for the next year and a half following that. His color was gray. He didn't look healthy. He had congestive heart failure. Several open heart surgeries followed, to repair the damage from a massive heart attack he suffered the day after he and his family moved back home after Superstorm Sandy.

His new heart was failing and his kidneys weren't working properly because of all the trauma his body had suffered.

So Fisher went back on the transplant list, this time for a another new heart and a kidney. On August 2, he got the call. His third chance at life.

Nolman Rodriguez, a 24-year-old Trenton man, gave him his life back. Nolman was shot to death while he was attending his niece's birthday party. The bullet was not meant for him and his murder remains unsolved, his sister Rosalia Vidal Rodriguezs said.

Fisher received Nolman's heart and a kidney.

When he came out from the anesthesia, this time it was different. His color was back. He felt stronger than he had in a long time.

"When I woke up, I was a different person," Fisher said. "It was just so strong."

Then came the guilt. He was alive because a young man had died.

"It's hard to explain," he said. "It was a guilty feeling on my end. He's not here and I am. Why? To get rid of the guilt, I had to meet his family."

He got his chance last weekend. Fisher and his family and Nolman's family met at an emotional reunion organized by the NJ Sharing Network in New Providence.

Nolman's family took turns with a stethoscope listening to his heart thumping in Fisher's chest. It was an emotional experience for all.

"There were mixed emotions," Rosalia said. "I was very happy to know that my brother’s heart was beating in someone else and saved a life. It was very emotional to hear his heart beat – it was just as strong as he was. But I was also sad because the person I was hugging was another body and not my brother."

When Fisher was told that Nolman's mother's wish was to hear his heart beat again, he bought an "Angel Bear" and arranged for Deborah Hospital to record his new heartbeat. Then he sent the bear to Nolman's mother, who lives in the Honduras.

Because of the all the surgeries and trauma his body has suffered, Fisher is now on disability and can't work. But he's glad to be alive.

"A doctor told me I'm 52 in a 70-year-0ld body, he said. "I'm very limited in what I can do."

He avoids most public places, since he can't afford to get sick and will take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of his life.

But don't think he isn't grateful. Fisher now has a new mission in life - promoting organ donation.

"I think I was left on this earth to help other people," he said.

The NJ Sharing Network is the non-profit organization responsible for the recovery and placement of donated organs and tissue for those in need of a life-saving transplant. Over 4,000 New Jersey residents are currently awaiting transplantation. We are also part of the national recovery system, which is in place for the more than 120,000 people on waiting lists.

Photos: Courtesy of the NJ Sharing Network