Cuba, MO Teen Waiting For Second Heart Transplant
By Roche Madden Staff reporter

April 27, 2009
ST. LOUIS MO ( KPLR )—
A Cuba, Missouri teenage boy and his family are staying close to St. Louis Children's Hospital as they wait for the boy's second heart transplant. Derek Pritchett, 13, got his first heart transplant when he was only a baby. Because of coronary artery disease, he now needs a second transplant. He's one of 248 young people in American on a waiting list for a new heart. Twenty-one other young people on the list also need their second heart. Friends and family of the Pritchett's are holding fundraisers in Cuba and Sullivan to help them pay their bills while they wait for the transplant.

Derek's father, also named Derek, told Fox 2 he encourages everyone to be organ donors.

"Don't take your organs to heaven; heaven knows we need them here."
'LIKE' KPLR on Facebook