Patient Stories 
After a life changing year away, the talkative kid with a love of all things spice is back on the ranch – right where he belongs.
In the Summer 2021 issue, we introduced you to Brady Thompson, an outgoing 7-year-old with a love for spicy food, living in Harding County, South Dakota — one of the most rural communities in the country. Brady was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, or HLHS, a condition in which the left side of his heart didn’t fully develop before birth, and can’t pump oxygenated blood throughout his body.
“His first surgery was when he was two days old,” said Terisa Thompson, Brady’s mom. “It was part of a three-surgery repair.” Brady’s next surgery was at six months, and the third came when he was about two and a half years old. Although these procedures helped reroute blood, they still don’t provide normal heart function.
Now 11 years old, a lot has changed for Buffalo’s smallest celebrity — most notably, his heart. On Nov. 6, 2023, Brady received a heart transplant at the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.
Crystal Page, the Physician Assistant at Buffalo Clinic who has cared for Brady for most of his life, can see a drastic change in her young patient. “He doesn’t have to be the boy with half a heart that can’t participate in any activity that overexerts him or could cause an injury,” she said. “He has energy, he gets to play like everyone else on the playground…he gets to be a kid.”
Brady echoes that sentiment himself. “I really like having more energy and getting to do more things,” he explained cheerfully, just after finishing a cookie. “It just feels good to move around!”
A Year Away from Home
A heart transplant is no small thing, and Brady and his parents had to stay in Michigan for a year for monitoring and post-transplant care. Although they made friends during their stay — it’s hard not to like Brady and the Thompsons — the whole family was relieved to return home.
“You know how it is in a small town: you know everybody and everybody knows you. And everybody around here knows Brady’s story,” said Terisa. “It was great coming back and seeing all the familiar faces. You come back and you just fit right back in.”
During the Thompsons’ absence, family, friends and neighbors helped take care of their land and cattle so that they could focus on Brady’s recovery. “That’s small-town life,” she said once more.
Brady will need to take anti-rejection medications for the rest of his life. Medications are nothing new for him, though. Crystal and her colleagues at Buffalo Clinic remain part of his ongoing care, which is going well. That is a relief to his entire family. “His mother looks more relaxed and less stressed, too. Each time a heart catheter after-transplant test for rejection came back negative, you could just feel the happiness in Terisa’s posts to update their followers,” Crystal explained. “The whole family looks so relieved and happy.”
For a ranching family whose land has been in the family for more than 100 years, Brady’s transplant is more than just a relief from worry for his parents; it’s reassurance that their son’s health and wellness will continue to improve in step with their way of life. “I feel like I can do more out here than ever before,” Brady said, enthusiastically.
His mom agreed. “Having him back here, healthy at home, it’s obvious to me that this is where he’s supposed to be.”
At 11 years old, Brady’s been through more than some people deal with in a lifetime. Through it all, he’s stayed the same enthusiastic, plucky kid. Even after a heart transplant, he’s still the same ol’ Brady…with one minor exception. After recovering from surgery, the Thompsons discovered that the kid once known for his love of all things spicy, who used to carry around his own bottle of hot sauce, now had an inexplicable hunger for cookies, candies and other sweet treats.
“I like to say that maybe my donor had a sweet tooth, and that’s why I like sweets now too!” Brady said with a chuckle.
“Brady is doing so well! He looks like an entirely different kid. He’s pink, not dusky or blue. He has started growing again, too. You can just tell that he feels so much better. The Thompsons are a great family, and everybody is so happy to have them back! I think going through what they did has taught them to not take the little things in life for granted because they almost lost one of their own. They will always hold a special place in my heart, and I’m happy to call them all friends.”
– Crystal Page, PA-C, Buffalo Clinic
Brady’s heart transplant was made possible by an anonymous donor through the Gift of Life Donor Program, the largest organ procurement organization in the U.S. Since 1988, the organization has worked with over 14,800 donors, helping to coordinate more than 41,140 organs transplanted. They are also dedicated to educating the public about the importance of organ donation, and encourage people to sign up for the donor registry. For more information, visit donors1.org.