Wyatt poses with members of the Pediatric Heart Failure and Transplant team and CCVCU staff who cared for him during his nearly year-long stay at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital.
Credit: NYU Langone Staff
Today, 2-year-old Wyatt Lopez of Warwick, New York, is home, growing, playing and thriving with a new heart. Just months earlier, dressed in a tiny tuxedo, he paraded through cheering hospital hallways after spending 351 days in the Congenital Cardiovascular Care Unit (CCVCU) at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone. Much of that time was spent waiting for a new heart, followed by weeks recovering from the transplant that saved his life.
Surrounded by the doctors, surgeons, nurses, and staff who had become his second family, Wyatt left with something he and his grandmother, Andrea Muster, had waited nearly a year to receive: a second chance at life.
Nearly a Year of Waiting
Wyatt was admitted to Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital on October 14, 2024. He was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare congenital heart defect in which the left side of the heart is severely undeveloped. Children born with this condition often undergo a series of complex surgeries early in life and, in some cases, ultimately require a heart transplant.
Wyatt, dressed in a tuxedo, prepares to parade through the halls of Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital on the day he went home.
Credit: Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone
For pediatric patients, the wait for a donor heart can be especially long. Unlike adult transplants, pediatric donor hearts for children must be closely size matched, and the national availability of pediatric donor organs remains limited. As a result, some children spend months, and in rare cases, nearly a year, hospitalized while awaiting a lifesaving match.
For Wyatt, that meant 351 days inside the CCVCU at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital. Amid the monitors and medical equipment, moments of childhood still found their way in.
When Wyatt saw musical instruments and licensed creative arts therapist Liz Ingram, MS, his face lit up. He danced, sang, and expressed himself in ways that felt natural during a time in his life when so little felt easy. Music therapy, one of the many services powered by Sala Institute for Child and Family Centered Care, uses music alongside psychological principles and medical care to help children cope with the stress of hospitalization, experience moments of normalcy, and build resilience.
His grandmother remained by his side for the entire 351 days. Nurses celebrated his progress. Physicians adjusted care plans in real time. Over time, the hospital became home.
Wyatt plays instruments with licensed creative arts therapist Liz Ingram, MS, during a music therapy session in the CCVCU.
Credit: Andrea Muster
“Wyatt brings joy and inspiration to everyone around him,” said Rakesh Singh, MD, Wyatt’s cardiologist and medical director of the Pediatric Heart Failure and Transplant Program at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital. “After nearly a year in our care, he wasn’t just our patient, he was family. Seeing him leave with a new heart and the chance to grow up is why we do this work.”
The Call That Changed Everything
Wyatt recovers in the CCVCU following his heart transplant.
Credit: Andrea Muster
On September 8, 2025, a donor heart became available. Wyatt underwent a heart transplant performed by T.K. Susheel Kumar, MD, surgical director of the Pediatric Heart Failure and Transplant Program at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital.
“Wyatt was in dire need of a new heart,” said Dr. Kumar. “The transplant gave him a second chance. Watching him recover, regain his strength, and ultimately leave the hospital as a healthy, happy toddler is incredibly rewarding.”
For Wyatt’s family, the moment also carried deep gratitude for the donor family who made his transplant possible.
“There’s another family out there who made this possible for Wyatt,” said Muster. “In the middle of their worst moment, they made a decision to give Wyatt a future. That kind of generosity is something our family will never forget.”
In the weeks following surgery, Wyatt steadily rebuilt his strength under the care of the multidisciplinary transplant and CCVCU teams.
A Parade Through the Place He Called Home
Wyatt with his cardiothoracic surgeon, T.K. Susheel Kumar, MD, and pediatric cardiologist, Rakesh Singh, MD, the day he was discharged from Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital.
Credit: Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone
On September 30, 2025, one day after World Heart Day, hospital staff lined the hallways for his discharge parade. Applause echoed as Wyatt, dressed for the occasion in a tuxedo, waved goodbye to the place that had sustained him for nearly half his life.
What began as a year defined by waiting ended in celebration. Today, Wyatt is home, growing, playing, and discovering the world outside the hospital. In January, he even took a trip to Deerfield Beach, Florida, with his grandmother, enjoying sunshine and time by the ocean together. Moments like that once felt far out of reach during his long hospital stay.
“Taking Wyatt to Deerfield Beach was really special,” said Muster. “A year prior we were living in the hospital, just hoping for a heart. Seeing him outside, laughing by the water, was something I’ll never forget.”
Months after his transplant, Wyatt laughs and plays in the waves during a trip to Deerfield Beach, Florida, with his grandmother.
Credit: Andrea Muster
For a child who spent nearly half his life inside a hospital room, the beach felt like the beginning of everything the comes next.
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Katie Ullman
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