Dad gets new heart, survives for son's 1st Christmas

DALTON, Ga. — A Dalton man already received his biggest Christmas gifts: a new heart and a new son.

Last winter, 30-year-old Andy Toth caught a cold he couldn't shake.

"I wasn't really worried about it until it stuck around," he said. Weeks turned into months. Eventually, Andy was diagnosed with an enlarged heart. His condition went downhill quickly.

"I was exhausted. I didn't want to go anywhere or do anything," he said.

In the middle of the endless doctor's appointments and frustrations over lack of progress, Andy got a surprise: he was going to be a dad.

"For both of us, there was that fear: Am I going to be here?" Andy said. He and his wife, Christi, traveled to Ohio to get a second opinion at the Cleveland Clinic. They knew Andy wasn't well, but they didn't realize how close he was to death until that day.

"I admitted him right away into the hospital. We didn't even need to do any test to know we was sick and in trouble. Within a day, it was pretty apparent he was in deep trouble," Cleveland Clinic cardiologist David Taylor said.

Andy Toth needed a new heart if he was going to live long enough to see his son.

"They said they didn't think he was going to live long enough to get a transplant," Christi Toth said. "He was that bad."

Three days after arriving at the clinic, Andy Toth was added to the transplant list. Three days after that, he got a new heart.

The transplant was success. A healthy son was born in October. Now, the family is celebrating a Christmas they didn't think possible at this time last year.

"It saved his life. It saved our family," Christi Toth said. "I can't imagine trying to raise a son without him."

They don't need a reminder of their journey or their luck, but it hangs there on the Christmas tree with the rest of the ornaments: a key-chain-turned-ornament that reads "Donate Life."